THE- HOUSE- OF  A 


ERCHANT 


RINCE 


0    ,    ^rrrr^<\ 


.-^o-ta- 


iEx  ICtbrts 


SEYMOUR    DURST 


~t '  'Fort  memu    ^4m/ier(um  oj>  Je  Manhatarus 


FORT    NEW    AMSTERDAM. 


(NEW   YORK),      1651. 


'When  you  leave,  please  leave  this  book 

Because  it  has  been  said 
"Ever  thing  comes  t'  him  who  waits 

Except  a  loaned  book." 


Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/houseofmerchantpOObish 


THE 


HOUSE  OF  A  MERCHANT  PRINCE 


A  Novel  of  New  York 


BY 


WILLIAM    HENRY  BISHOP 


AUTHOR  OF  "DETMOLD' 


BOSTON   AND    NEW  YORK 

HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND   COMPANY 

€fje  Btbersltto  \dxt&lf  Cambridge 

1899 


or 
woo 


Copyright,  1882, 
By  HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN   &  CO.  and  W.  H.  BISHOP. 

All  rights  reserved. 


The  Riverside  Press,  Cambridge  : 
Electrotyped  and  Printed  by  II.  0.  Houghton  &  Co. 


CONTENTS. 


— ♦— 

PAGl 

I.   An  Awkward  Meeting 1 

II.   The  Aspirations  of  a  Merchant  Prince 21 

III.  At  Musical  Mrs.  Clefs 37 

IV.  A  Sunday  on  the  Avenue 47 

V.   A  Man  of  Fashion  drives  out  a  Friend 57 

VI.   Some  Perverse  Opinions  of  Mr.  Bainbridge      ...  69 

VII.   Prospects  from  Harvey's  Terrace 82 

VIII.  A  Flaw  in  a  Corner-Stone 101 

IX.     "TO    MEET    THE    PRESIDENT    OF    THE    UNITED    STATES  "  .      .  110 

X.   In  Magoon  Building  Offices 129 

XI.   Embittered  Recollections  of  Old  Slave  Days      .    .  140 
XII.   Ottilie  Harvey's  Routine 153 

XIII.  Showing  the  Perfect  Feasibility  of  Platonic  Friend- 

ships   172 

XIV.  Cross  Purposes  at  a  Newport  Villa 188 

XV.   In  Town  for  the  Winter _>i2 

XVI.   The  Merchant  Prince  dines  a  Political  Economist     226 
XVII.   The  Past  of  KINGBOLT  of  Ktngboltsyille      ....  247 

XVIII.   At  the  Empire  Club  and  around  Town 261 

XIX.    A  Garden  Party  on  the  Hudson,  and  its  Sequel.     .  279 

XX.    "  Lalage,   Sweetly  Smiling,  Sweetly  Speaking"       .  300 

XXI.   By  far  less  Favorable  to  the  Platonic  Theory  .     .  336 

XXII.    An  Evening  in  Literary  Society 34$ 

XXIII.  A    Plea  by    an   Ingenious   Attorney,  but  the  Court 

Bl  BEBTB8   ITS   DECISION 374 

XXIV.  "  Tub  Toils  are  laid  and  the  Stakes  are  set  "    .     .  383 

XXV.  Ottilie  Harvey  clears  up  a  Painful  Situation  .     .     .407 


THE  HOUSE  OF  A  MERCHANT  PRINCE. 


AN  AWKWARD  MEETING. 

It  was  about  four  o'clock  of  a  February  afternoon. 
A  young  girl  sat  in  an  open  hackney  coach  amid  the 
most  extreme  bustle  and  uproar  of  New  York. 

She  was  looking  out  with  interest  at  the  front  of 
one  of  the  great  wholesale  dry-goods  stores  situated 
on  that  part  of  Broadway  near  Canal  Street.  Some 
modest  traveling  trunks  were  strapped  behind  the 
hackney  coach. 

The  simple  inscription  on  two  zinc  tablets  attached 
to  iron  columns  of  the  front,  was  "Rodman  Harvey 
&  Co." 

The  plate-glass  windows  presented  to  the  street 
only  the  cold  shoulders,  as  it  were,  of  some  bolts  of 
the  variety  of  textile  fabrics  contained  within.  At 
this  dignified  height  in  trade  a  petty  display  is  un- 
necessary. Whoever  knew  anything  of  the  circum- 
stances knew  that  Rodman  Harvey  &  Co.  was  one 
of  the  oldest  and  strongest  concerns  in  the  metrop- 
olis. They  knew  that  its  head  and  founder  was 
prominent  in  every  notable  enterprise ;  that  he  had 
rendered  patriotic  services  to  the  government  during 
l 


2  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

the  war,  and  that  he  was  stanch  in  the  opinions  of 
the  political  majority,  by  which  the  government  has 
been  chiefly  administered  ever  since  ;  all  of  which 
items  had  their  effect  in  securing  custom.  The  head 
of  the  firm  was,  in  fact,  the  firm  itself,  his  partners 
being  men  with  but  minor  interests,  brought  in  from 
time  to  time  to  assist  him,  and  seldom  heard  of  by 
name.  He  was  rarely  mentioned  in  the  public  press 
other  than  as  a  "  merchant  prince  :  "  "  one  of  our 
leading  merchant  princes."  The  house  of  Rodman 
Harvey  &  Co.  offered,  in  its  advertisements,  "  Special 
Inducements  to  Cash  and  Short-Time  Buyers,"  and 
it  sent  out  a  swarm  of  ingenious  commercial  trav- 
elers to  represent  its  interests  through  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  land. 

A  companion  for  whom  the  young  girl  waited  had 
gone  into  the  store.  He  now  presently  emerged, 
having  its  chief  proprietor  with  him.  The  two  lin- 
gered in  conversation,  at  first  on  a  step,  later  at  the 
curbstone. 

There  came  out  at  the  same  time,  a  tallish,  gentle- 
manly-looking young  man,  with  a  light  beard.  He 
had  a  packet  of  papers  in  his  hand,  and  seemed  at- 
tending upon  the  merchant.  He  made  as  if  to  go 
away,  but  was  detained  by  the  latter,  as  if  for  some 
further  conference. 

This  young  man,  having  apparently  nothing  bet- 
ter to  do  while  waiting,  fixed  his  gaze  upon  the  occu- 
pant of  the  carriage  with  a  certain  intentness. 

"  A  rather  tall,  slender  girl,"  he  mused.  "  She  has 
nice  brown  hair  with  burnished  strands  in  it.  It  is 
*  banged '  over  the  forehead,  and  gathered  into  a 
semi-matronly  knot  behind.  Her  skin  is  of  a  smooth 
whiteness.     Her  eyes  are  dark  gray,  without  trace  of 


AN  AWKWARD   MEETING.  3 

blue.  The  eye-brows  are  rather  heavier  than  com- 
mon, which  gives  a  slight  aspect  of  severity.  Is  she 
severe,  I  wonder?  —  not  that  I  take  a  wild  interest 
in  knowing."  "  Dress  4  half  mourning,'  "  he  contin- 
ued,—  "a  bereavement,  not  too  recent.  Age,  say 
eighteen,  —  not  twenty-one,  at  any  rate.  Whom  has 
the  sagacious  Klauser  with  him  now  ?  —  Klauser, 
the  confidential,  who  goes  over  the  road  twice  a  year 
to  look  after  the  security  of  the  credits  the  over- 
sanguine  commercial  travelers  are  inclined  to  ex- 
tend. Hardly  his  daughter?  She  must  be  yet  in 
Germany,  pursuing  her  musical  studies.'' 

The  young  woman  had  given  a  slight  start  of  an- 
noyance at  the  appearance  of  the  merchant  prince 
at  his  own  door-way.  She  had,  in  fact,  reasons, 
why  she  did  not  wish  that  he  should  recognize  her, 
in  case  he  were  likely  to  do  so.  In  order  to  with- 
draw herself  somewhat  from  observation,  she  turned 
away  a  shapely  head,  assumed  an  unconscious  air, 
and  began  to  study  the  doings  in  the  street. 

As  in  the  margins  of  actual  streams  each  foot  of 
the  way  presents  its  local  eddies,  so  here,  at  every 
portal,  was  a  separate  stir  of  life. 

There  was  a  rise  in  the  ground  to  the  southward. 
The  sidewalks  were  black  with  hurrying  humanity. 
A  concourse  of  loaded  drays,  trucks,  vans,  and  white 
omnibuses,  these  last  shutting  in  their  parcels  of  hu- 
manity, like  a  curious  sort  of  freight  also,  filled  all 
the  central  space.  It  was  rather  a  moving  glacier 
than  a  stream.  The  boxes  and  bales  piled  high  upon 
the  wagons,  with  the  swaying  bodies,  heads,  and  whips 
of  the  drivers,  were  exalted  impressively  against  the 
sky.  Behind  them  vanished  an  interminable  per- 
spective of  becolumned  facades,  cupolas,  steeples,  a 


4  THE   HOUSE   OF   A  MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

dome,  many-storied  mansards  fretted  with  dormers, 
the  whole  made  yet  more  fantastic  with  flaunting 
banners  and  carved  and  gilded  emblems  of  trade. 
Into  some  such  aspect  the  Yellowstone  might  fashion 
the  walls  of  the  canyon  into  which  it  cuts  its  bed 
deeper  and  deeper  from  the  light. 

The  fresh  young  observer  of  the  scene,  her  thoughts 
involuntarily  drawn  away  in  the  fascination  of  its 
onward  movement,  had  well-nigh  forgotten  her  anx- 
ious preoccupation  when  she  was  suddenly  aroused 
to  herself  by  a  voice  close  at  her  ear.  Its  tones  con- 
veyed decision  and  authority,  and  it  was  asking,  — 

"  And  whom  have  you  there,  Klauser  ?  " 

"  Your  niece,  Miss  Ottilie  Harvey,  of  Lone  Tree, 
Illinois.  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  taking  charge  of 
her  on  her  return  to  school.  She  was  just  setting  out 
when  I  came  to  Lone  Tree  on  my  rounds,  and  we 
made  it  convenient  to  travel  together." 

Turning  round,  embarrassed  and  overawed,  Miss 
Ottilie  Harvey  found  herself  in  the  immediate  pres- 
ence and  under  the  sharp  scrutiny  of  a  relative  whom 
she  had  particularly  desired  not  to  see.  He  was  a 
relative  who  played  an  important  part  in  the  imagin- 
ations and  speech  of  the  home  circle  she  had  left  be- 
hind her  at  Lone  Tree.  He  was  the  arrogant  pros- 
perous kinsman  in  the  family,  a  brother  of  her  father, 
who  had  had  much  poorer  luck  in  the  world.  Be- 
tween the  two  brothers,  thus  diversely  situated,  there 
existed,  perhaps  owing  to  fault  on  both  sides,  a  chronic 
feud,  and  this  was  just  now  at  its  most  exacerbated 
pass. 

Rodman  Harvey  may  have  seen  this  niece  before 
as  a  child  ;  he  probably  had.  He  regarded  her  now 
in   a  meditative  way,  shook    hands  with   her,  asked 


AN  AWKWARD    MEETING.  5 

after  the  family,  and  said  she  had  the  Harvey  looks. 
Then  he  insisted  that  she  should  alight,  and  come 
into  the  store  with  him  and  Klauser,  for  whom  he 
discovered  that  he  had  some  further  need.  She  dared 
not  refuse,  but  did  as  requested.  The  young  man 
with  the  packet  of  papers,  whose  affair,  whatever  it 
was,  was  not  yet   dispatched,  remained  of  the  party. 

The  roar  of  the  street  entered  with  them  through 
the  open  door  of  the  dry-goods  warehouse  like  the 
section  of  an  actual  solid. 

"It  was  too  bad  of  you  to  bring  me  here,  Mr. 
Klauser,"  said  the  girl,  finding  a  moment  to  complain 
to  him  privately.  "  You  know  I  was  merely  to  have 
a  glimpse  of  my  uncle's  store,  just  as  you  were  to 
show  me,  on  our  way  to  the  depot,  the  grand  new 
house  he  is  building  up  town ;  but  I  was  not  to  see 
him.  You  heard  my  father  expressly  interdict  my  do- 
ing so  when  you  dined  with  us.  Y^ou  said  that  you 
but  wished  to  stop  at  the  store  for  an  instant,  and 
that  it  was  wholly  improbable  that  my  uncle  would 
be  here  at  this  time  of  the  day." 

"Well,  but  your  mother;  you  know,"  —  began 
Klauser,  a  square-built,  middle-aged  man  with  a 
slightly  German  accent. 

"  Yres,  my  mother  ;  —  she  is  weaker,  or  more  poli- 
tic, perhaps,  and  given  to  suggesting  that  we  should 
throw  ourselves  in  his  way,  and  make  advances ;  but 
my  father  does  not  wish  it.  He  may  be  a  little  un- 
reasonable and  violent  sometimes.  When  he  says 
that  my  uncle  has  never  done  anything  at  all  for  us, 
that  is  not  quite  correct,  for  I  myself  remember  some 
substantial  favors.  But  it  was  my  duty  to  obey  him, 
and  you  ought  to  have  helped  me." 

••  Well,  but  you  know  in  the  afternoon,"  —  said 
Klauser,  casting  about  for  excuses. 


6  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

"  And  there  was  another  reason  why  I  did  not 
wish  to  see  him,"  interrupted  the  young  complainant 
impetuously.  "  I  do  not  at  all  like  his  treatment  of 
the  Hasbro uck  girls." 

The  Hasbrouck  girls  were  schoolmates  of  hers, 
and  it  seemed  that  she  had  thought  good  to  espouse 
a  cause  of  theirs  which  made  a  private  and  local  mo- 
tive of  resentment,  in  addition  to  the  rest. 

But  now  the  merchant  prince,  as  if  having  re- 
flected, turned  to  her  in  his  impressive  way,  and  said, 

"  Going  back  to  school ;  what  school? " 

"Vassar,"  replied  Ottilie,  hesitatingly.  "I  have 
been  there  about  a  year.  I  am  to  graduate  in  the 
coming  summer." 

u  Your  father  must  be  doing  very  well  to  pay  for 
such  schools  as  that,  and  thousand  mile  journeys  back 
and  forth.  Let  me  see  ;  there  were  five  of  you,  were 
there  not?  " 

"  There  were  five,  but  one  is  dead."  The  speaker 
glanced  involuntarily  at  her  dark  dress.  She  had 
thrown  back  the  fronts  of  a  cheviot  ulster,  which, 
with  collar  standing,  enveloped  her  in  half-military 
fashion.  It  could  be  seen  that  her  dark  dress  had  a 
neat  furbelow  or  two,  and  was  trimly  fitted  to  a  slen- 
der waist  and  corsage,  as  yet  but  little  filled  out. 

"  I  think  my  father  is  not  doing  better  than 
usual,"  she  said.  "It  has  been  my  wish  to  do  some- 
thing for  my  own  support,  in  order  to  lighten,  in 
time,  his  burdens.  He  has  not  yet  consented,  but  I 
trust  that  he  will.  I  thought  that  with  the  diploma 
of  a  school  of  high  rank  I  should  be  able  to  command 
a  —  a  more  profitable  position  as  teacher.  I  have 
been  at  home  because  my  brother  was  going  to  the 
Sandwieh  Islands,  where  he  has  got  a  place,  and  we 


AN   AWKWARD    MEETING.  7 

did  not  know  when  we  should  see  him  again  ;  and  as 
I  did  not  go  at  Christmas  "  — 

She  endeavored  to  disclaim  in  her  manner  any  ap- 
pearance of  appealing  to  sympathy.  She  was  angry 
at  having  to  make  these  explanations,  but  they 
seemed  necessary  to  refute  his  distorted  way  of  put- 
ting things.  Oppressed  by  her  idea  of  his  impor- 
tance, she  was  not  quite  mistress  of  herself. 

"  So  you  have  been  here  for  some  years,"  said  Rod- 
man Harvey,  exaggerating  the  case  in  a  carping  way, 
"and  have  not  thought  it  worth  while  to  come  near 
us?" 

"  I  have  usually  passed  through  New  York  very 
quickly.  And  I  knew  that  the  family  were  a  good 
deal  in  Europe  —  and  then,"  —  stammered  Ottilie,  at 
a  loss  to  account  more  favorably  for  conduct  which 
he  was  pleased  to  represent  in  so  heinous  a  light. 

"  Your  father  is  a  fool !  "  burst  forth  the  merchant 
prince,  as  if  under  the  stimulus  of  an  irritating  mem- 
ory. "  You  are  not  to  blame  for  it,  of  course,  but  he 
is  a  man  who  would  try  the  temper  of  saints.  I  al- 
ways meant  well  by  him.  A  person  who  made  so 
complete  a  wreck  of  his  own  prospects  should  be  at 
least  amenable  to  counsel.  But  no  ;  he  throws  it 
back  in  your  teeth.  It  was  the  same  thing  when  he 
was  in  partnership  with  me.  He  is  the  same  to-dav, 
and  the  same  he  always  will  be.  I  started  him  in 
business  at  the  West,  after  he  had  gone  to  pieces 
here,  and  still  he  must  quarrel  with  me.  As  soon  as 
he  gets  his  head  a  trifle  above  water  he  must  with- 
draw his  custom,  forsooth,  from  the  old  house  of 
Rodman  Harvey  &  Co.  As  though  his  wretched  lit- 
tle custom  could  make  the  smallest  difference  in  the 
world !  " 


8  THE   HOUSE    OF   A  MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

Ottilie,  though  understanding  tolerably  well  some 
of  her  father's  imperfections,  would  have  liked  now 
to  say  many  reproachful  things  in  his  defense.  But 
she  was  much  more  in  danger  of  bursting  into  tears. 

The  veteran  employee,  Klauser,  a  politic  person, 
with  traits  of  benevolence  of  his  own,  wore  an  un- 
easy and  deploring  air  at  the  turn  events  had  taken. 
He  was  one  who  could  listen,  on  his  rounds,  to  the  ti- 
rades of  the  less  fortunate  brother,  without  relaxing, 
on  that  account,  his  vigilance  in  the  service  of  the 
other.  He  had  taken  a  fancy  to  Ottilie  as  he  had 
seen  her  at  her  home.  She  had  pleased  him  still 
more  on  the  journey,  both  by  her  looks  and  the  exhi- 
bition of  many  amiable  and  vivacious  traits.  He  ar- 
gued a  favorable  effect  upon  Rodman  Harvey  as  well, 
from  the  sight  of  her.  The  more  she  won  him, 
along  the  road,  the  more  he  racked  his  ingenuity  for 
a  means  of  bringing  about  a  meeting  in  some  natural 
way.  Nothing  better  offered  itself  finally,  than  the 
device  of  stopping  briefly  at  the  store,  as  for  an  er- 
rand, with  the  slender  chances  this  presented.  This 
plan  had  succeeded  admirably  at  first,  but  its  un- 
looked-for developments  caused  its  inventor  to  doubt 
his  fancied  wisdom,  and  to  dread  the  coming  re- 
proaches for  treachery  which  his  conduct  now  well 
merited. 

The  merchant  prince,  however,  having  vented  suf- 
ficiently complaints  which  were,  perhaps,  intended  to 
justify  to  himself  a  long  neglect  of  his  brother's 
family,  and  not  desiring  to  increase  further  the  dis- 
tressed look  on  his  niece's  face,  now  took  a  more 
lively  and  cheerful  tone.  "  I  am  not  saying  it  is  your 
fault,"  he  said.  "  I  am  only  laying  before  you  facts 
that  you  ought  to  know.     Your  father  should  have 


AN   AWKWARD    MEETING.  V 

sent  you  to  my  care  when  you  came  here  to  school, 
and  then  we  would  have  done  all  we  could  for  you." 

Having  to  take  Klauser  away  to  consult  with  Mr. 
Minn,  the  head  of  the  white  goods  department  up- 
stairs, and  designing,  as  it  seemed,  to  leave  her  enter- 
tained in  the  mean  time,  he  introduced,  with  a  certain 
flourish,  the  young  man  with  the  papers,  which  were 
of  a  legal-looking  sort.  This  individual  had  been 
driven,  before  the  discussion  we  have  noted,  into  the 
private  office  of  the  merchant  prince,  where  all  par- 
ties had  been  now  for  some  little  time  ensconced. 
The  office  was  partitioned  off  from  a  side  of  the  store, 
near  the  front.  The  young  man  politely  affected  not 
to  hear  what  was  said.  He  busied  himself  over  a 
map  on  the  wall,  stirred  the  fire,  and  moved  an  office 
chair  nearer  one  of  the  desks.  Rodman  Harvey  ap- 
peared abstractedly  to  have  lost  sight  of  his  pres- 
ence. But  Ottilie  knew  very  well  that  he  had  heard, 
and  she  visited  upon  him  a  share  of  her  mental  re- 
sentment. She  took  him  to  be,  perhaps,  a  private 
secretary,  before  whom  his  employer  was  in  the  habit 
of  speaking  with  freedom. 

"  But  that  makes  it  none  the  more  endurable,"  she 
said,  "that  he  should  be  a  witness  of  my  embarrass- 
ment and  disgrace." 

She  chose  to  imagine  in  him  an  odiously  conceited 
and  patronizing  manner. 

"This  is  Mr.  Bainbridge,  my  lawyer.  He  is  a  fa- 
mous fellow  for  collecting,  and  drawing  up  docu- 
ments," said  Rodman  Harvey.  "  I  always  need  to 
have  him  up  from  Chippendale,  Bond  &  Saxby's. 
You  must  bear  it  in  mind  if  you  have  anything  of 
that  kind  to  be  done." 

And  to  Bainbridge  he  said  :  "  This  is  my  niece,  Miss 


10  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

Ottilie  Harvey.  You  see  they  raise  girls,  as  well  as 
pork  and  cereals,  in  the  great  West.  If  they  were 
all  like  this  one  we  should  n't  complain,  eh  ?  " 

All  this  was  quite  an  unusual  display  of  facetious- 
ness  on  the  part  of  the  merchant  prince,  who  was  not 
a  person  of  the  humorous  sort. 

Mr.  Bainbridge  made  talk  of  a  facile,  courteous 
sort,  but  his  auditor  was  cold  and  unresponsive.  She 
was  very  uncomfortable.  She  did  not  wish  to  be 
there  at  all.  Why  did  not  Klauser  return  and  take 
her  away?  A  small,  well-fitting  boot  tapped  the 
floor  nervously  below  the  hem  of  her  garment.  The 
light  was  becoming  to  her,  as  she  sat  in  one  of  the 
office  chairs.  It  burnished  yet  more  some  strands  of 
her  hair,  and  cast  softly-modulated  shadows  upon  her 
white  skin  from  under  the  projecting  brim  of  her  hat. 

But  the  young  lawyer,  with  a  perfect  understand- 
ing, perhaps,  of  the  state  of  the  case,  persevered  in 
efforts  which  were  at  length  not  without  a  measure 
of  success.  He  spread  before  her  a  variety  of  ideas 
without  demanding  a  response.  He  said, —  this,  of 
course,  for  her  peculiar  benefit,  —  that  Rodman  Har- 
vey was  a  very  upright  person  and  of  substantial 
well-meaningness,  though  his  temper  might  be  uncer- 
tain at  times,  through  his  many  responsibilities. 

He  even  ventured  upon  a  little  banter.  He  would 
have  liked  to  relax  the  perverse  gravity  of  those 
so  strongly-marked  brows.  Perhaps  she  would  have 
smiled,  if  they  had  let  her.  He  seemed  so  cheer- 
fully indifferent  to  her  reserve  that  there  was  a 
slight  absurdity  on  her  side  in  keeping  it  up.  She 
surmised  that  as  a  school-girl,  and  owing  to  the  lack 
of  ceremony  with  which  he  had  seen  her  treated,  he 
might  take  her  to  be  younger  than  she  was.     This 


AN   AWKWARD   MEETING.  11 

was,  in  fact,  the  case.  She  was  twenty,  instead  of  the 
eighteen  years  at  which  he  had  set  her  down  ;  and, 
though  she  knew  little,  as  yet,  of  New  York,  she 
prided  herself  upon  opportunities  for  seeing  the  world 
she  had  had  not  at  Lone  Tree  only,  but  at  Cincin- 
nati and  St.  Louis,  in  visits  she  had  made  to  those 
places. 

"  New  York  is  a  city  of  processions,"  said  Bain- 
bridge,  among  other  things.  "  They  go  up  and  down 
a  few  grooves  in  its  long,  narrow  space,  till  it  is  a 
wonder  they  don't  wear  it  down  to  the  backbone. 
When  I  walk  up  town  for  exercise  sometimes,  from 
my  office  in  the  Magoon  Building,  I  seem  to  be  going 
with  a  regular  military  column,  —  horse,  foot,  artil- 
lery and  camp  equipage,  complete.  The  noise  of  the 
wheels  on  the  Belgian  pavement  is  like  the  rattle 
and  boom  of  drums." 

"  I  was  thinking  that  as  I  sat  in  the  carriage,"  said 
Ottilie. 

"  Procession  of  small  shop-keepers  and  mechanics 
in  the  Bowery,"  Mr.  Bainbridge  went  on  ;  "  proces- 
sion of  thrifty  housewives  driving  bargains  on  Sixth 
Avenue ;  procession  of  everybody  and  everything 
on  Broadway.  All  this  down  town  is  the  laborious 
drill  for  the  procession  of  fashion  and  splendor  on 
Fifth  Avenue,  its  dress  parade." 

"New  York  does  not  seem  as  large  to  me  as  it 
ought  to.  Chicago  is  in  some  respects  more  impres- 
sive," said  Ottilie. 

"  In  what  respects  ?  " 

"  I  can  hardly  say.     I  have  not  analyzed  them." 

"  But  you  must  see  more  of  it.  We  are  really  a 
place  of  three  millions  of  people,  only  kept  apart  by 
a  few  nominal   barriers.     You  must  go  down  to  the 


12  THE   HOUSE   OF    A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

water  s  edge,  and  see  how  all  the  surrounding  coasts 
are  one  bristling  mass  of  cities  as  far  as  the  eye  can 
reach.  The  sun  heats  up  the  business  portion  of  the 
island  daily  with  a  definite  magnetic  attraction,  as  it 
were,  so  that  a  vast  population  from  these,  and  from 
the  country  fifty  miles  round  about,  is  drawn  to  it 
like  mad.  At  night  it  cools  off,  and  back  they  go 
again  to  whence  they  came.  How  does  that  strike 
you  as  a  figure  ?  " 

"  I  am  not  very  partial  to  figures.  Many  Western 
people,"  said  Ottilie,  "judge  of  importance  by  the 
scale  of  proportions  on  the  maps.  They  do  not  all 
look  upon  New  York,  or,  perhaps,  the  Eastern  sea- 
board generally,  with  the  supreme  reverence  it  may 
think  its  due." 

Whether  this  were  mere  perversity,  or  real  convic- 
tion, she  was  certainly  found  very  patriotic  to  her 
section. 

"  I  have  noticed  that  Westerners  are  rather  banded 
together,"  said  Bainbridge,  taking  the  offensive,  "  so 
that  you  seldom  get  much  information  from  them. 
But  now  I  will  give  you  my  conception  of  Lone 
Tree,  as  I  form  it,  —  from  the  name  alone,  I  assure 
you,  never  having  been  there,  —  and  you  shall  tell  me 
how  far  I  am  right." 

"Very  well,"  assented  Ottilie  Harvey.. 

"  There  is  a  green,  or  common,  surrounded  by 
block  houses.  The  lone  tree  itself  is  in  the  centre. 
I  am  not  quite  sure  whether  it  is  a  tall,  blasted  pine, 
or  an  umbrageous  oak,  last  of  its  kind,  which  has 
retreated  to  the  Rocky  Mountains.  At  evening  the 
people  assemble  and  compare  notes  on  their  escapes 
from  Pottawotamies  and  rattlesnakes  during  the  day. 
Sometimes  they  take  hands  in  rites  of  mystic  wor- 
Bhip  or  rejoicing  around  the  tree." 


AN   AWKWARD   MEETING.  13 

"  Easterners,  on  the  other  hand,  are  joined  together 
to  be  as  wildly  egotistical  and  absurd  as  possible,"  re- 
sponded the  partner  to  this  dialogue,  flushing  a  little. 
"  Lone  Tree  is  a  place  of  twenty  thousand  people, 
with  a  park,  gardens,  water-works,  a  public  library, 
and  one  of  the  best  high  schools  in  the  country, 
which  sends  graduates  every  year  to  Yale  and  Har- 
vard. It  has  three  railroads  centring  in  its  midst, 
and  there  is  talk  of  heating  it  by  steam.  It  is  so 
strange,"  she  continued,  impatiently,  "  that  intelligent 
people  will  make  the  same  mistakes  about  us  that 
are  made  by  Europeans,  who  fancy  there  are  buffa- 
loes in  New  York  city.  The  West  has  all  the  new- 
est improvements,  the  latest  and  best  patterns  in 
everything.  Indeed,  it  could  hardly  have  any  others 
if  it  wished.  It  is  only  in  the  older  communities 
that  you  find  inconvenient  and  lumbering  things 
about.  You  should  see  our  railway  cars.  The  West 
is  very  ambitious,  and  imitative  of  what  is  good.  It 
has  the  young  blood." 

"  The  Pottawotamies  prefer  that  kind,  do  they  ?  " 

This  sally  was  rewarded  by  the  smile  of  which  he 
had  been  in  search.  It  was  worth  the  waiting  for.  It 
showed  even,  white  teeth,  and  illumined  her  face 
quite  enchantingly.  A  miracle  had  been  wrought 
with  her  pensiveness  and  severity,  but  the  fatigued 
expression  soon  returned. 

"  She  has  peculiar  eyes,"  reflected  the  famous  at- 
torney for  drawing  documents,  continuing,  mentally, 
the  analysis  of  her  traits.  "  They  incline  to  hazel  ; 
at  least,  they  have  little  yellow  points  in  them,  amid 
the  gray,  like  a  sprinkling  of  gold-dust.  One  might 
like  them  better  afterwards  than  at  first.  They 
grow  on  you." 


14  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

The  manner  of  her  advent  interested  him.  He 
was  a  person  whose  fancy  responded  most  readily, 
let  us  say,  to  something  a  little  removed  from  the 
common.  There  was,  too,  as  it  happened,  a  men- 
tion of  her  in  the  document  he  had  last  drawn.  This 
was  nothing  less  than  a  codification  of  the  merchant 
prince's  will,  which  had  been  his  work  of  that  after- 
noon. She  was  down  in  that  document,  though  she 
knew  it  not,  with  her  several  brothers  and  sisters, 
children  of  Alfred  S.  Harvey,  of  Lone  Tree,  Illinois, 
each  for  the  munificent  sum  of  one  thousand  dollars. 
Furthermore,  he  conjured  up  — yes,  he  would  admit 
it,  —  a  faint  memory  of  Madeline  Scarrett.  Madeline 
Scarrett  was  married  to  that  elderly  widower  and  cap- 
italist, Elphinstone  Swan,  who  had  daughters  older 
than  herself.  She  was  one  he  had  known  in  days  gone 
by,  when  he  had  put  much  more  faith  in  woman,  and 
in  the  world  generally  for  that  matter,  than  at  the 
present  time.  He  had,  in  fact,  if  we  may  step  so  far 
into  his  confidence  at  once,  been  engaged  to  her  and 
then  betrayed  by  her,  as  he  believed,  on  mercenary 
grounds  alone.  But  Madeline  Scarrett  was  a  memory 
over  which  he  had  ceased  even  to  sigh.  If  Ottilie 
resembled  her  it  was  but  a  point  of  slightly  scientific 
interest.  He  was  a  deeply  experienced  person.  He 
was  a  philosopher  ;  and  he  was  not  susceptible.  He 
c°uld  make,  with  entire  safety,  such  observations  on 
feminine  nature  or  any  other  in  the  passing  interest 
of  the  moment,  as  he  might  choose.  Just  now  he  had 
merely  devoted  himself  to  the  task  of  rescuing  a  de- 
serving young  person  from  a  sense  of  embarrassment 
natural  in  the  circumstances.  She  was  not  a  person- 
age of  extreme  importance,  and  the  labor  was  purely 
benevolent. 


AN   AWKWARD   MEETING.  15 

"  Perhaps  it  might  please  you  to  step  out  for  a 
look  at  the  store,"  he  suggested. 

They  stood  near  the  office  thereupon  and  contem- 
plated a  while  an  animated  view  corresponding  in  its 
way  to  that  of  the  great  thoroughfare  without.  Otti- 
lie  conceived  with  difficulty  such  a  value  in  goods 
and  such  a  cohort  of  employees  within  the  ownership 
and  under  the  direction  of  one  man.  She  recalled 
that  her  father  had  told  her  that  the  controlling  spirit 
of  all  this  had  once  been  on  the  verge  of  bankruptcy. 
Heaps  of  goods,  with  buyers  and  salesmen  half  buried 
in  the  midst,  were  scattered  in  chaos  over  the  wide  area 
of  the  floor  between  iron  posts.  It  was  another  Ant- 
werp Fury,  or  sack  by  beneficent  Visigoths  of  trade. 
The  tiers  of  calicoes  and  flannels  piled  upon  their 
packing  boxes,  made  favorable  nooks  here  and  there 
to  shelter  some  knots  of  employees  who  could  with- 
draw for  a  few  moments'  gossip  from  the  general  ac- 
tivity. 

Such  a  little  knot  observed  the  advent  of  Ottilie 
and  Bainbridge.  They  gave  their  attention,  as  was 
natural,  chiefly  to  the  latter,  since  feminine  visitations 
were  rare.  The  proprietor's  daughter  Angelica,  a 
dazzling  belle,  tripped  in  at  rare  intervals,  perhaps 
on  matters  connected  with  her  allowance,  and  always 
made  a  sensation.  They  knew  that  this  was  not 
Angelica. 

"  The  fellow  with  her,"  said  McKinley,  a  man 
with  a  moustache  which  rolled  over  like  a  brown  cas- 
cade, after  they  had  finished  with  Ottilie,  "is  the  one 
•they  call  Bainbridge.  He  served  the  dispossess  war- 
rants for  Harvey  the  time  there  was  so  much  trouble 
about  getting  the  shanty  tenants  off  the  old  Muffett 
property,  now  '  Harvey's  Terrace.'     It 's  about  three 


16  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

years  since  the  old  man  built  those  blocks  of  houses 
up  there.  He 's  given  this  party  odd  jobs  ever 
since." 

"  He  does  look  like  a  go-ahead,  plucky  kind  of  cus- 
tomer," said  one  Widgery. 

"  Why  I  see  him  walkin'  round  among  'em  as  cool 
as  you  please,"  assented  McKinley0  "  1  was  up  there 
the  first  part  of  it.  I  would  n't  ha'  done  it  myself 
for  no  money.  It  was  a  perfect  fortress  of  a  place 
upon  them  rocks,  and  the  squatters  they  had  laid  in 
cart-rungs  and  bricks  for  a  regular  scrimmage.  It 
took  a  military  company  finally  as  well  as  the  police, 
to  put  'em  out.  I  recollect  the  rocks  was  painted 
over  with  big  advertisements  of  one  of  these  here 
complexion  restorers.  I  says  to  myself,  '  He  '11  need 
his  complexion  renovated  pretty  bad  before  he  gets 
through  with  it,'  I  says.  I  recollect  thinkin'  that. 
He  did  n't  though  ;  he  came  out  all  right." 

With  this  the  subject  dropped,  and  the  group  re- 
turned to  their  former  talk.  One  spoke  of  fashions, 
another  of  the  price  of  board  and  lodging,  another  of 
a  recent  theatrical  performance.  "  An  actor  when  he 
first  comes  on  the  boards,  for  me,"  said  this  last. 
"  Compare  Buskin  now  and  ten  years  ago.  I  went 
to  see  him  the  other  night.  Great  Scott !  I  wanted 
to  get  my  money  back." 

McKinley  dangled  one  leg  over  a  box,  and  paring 
his  nails  with  a  penknife  complained  that  Solomons 
had  taken  away  a  customer  of  his.  "  He  has  always 
inquired  for  me  when  he  came  to  the  store  before," 
he  said,  "  and  if  he  did  n't  this  time  it 's  damned 
strange." 

Cutler,  a  dashing  clerk  in  his  shirt  sleeves,  thus 
displaying  to  view  a  pair  of  crimson  braces  and  elab- 


AN   AWKWARD   MEETING.  17 

orate  cuff-buttons,  took  up  a  favorite  topic  of  the 
duty  of  marrying  a  rich  girl.  "  A  fellow  puts  in  his 
time  and  trouble,  and  managing  ability,  and  all 
that,"  said  Mr.  Cutler,  "  and  the  girl,  she  supplies 
the  money  ;  see  ?  It's  a  regular  partnership.  You 
want  to  find  out  first  whether  she  really  has  the 
money  though.  Do  you  understand  what  I  mean  ? 
You  can't  go  by  appearances  nowadays.  It  is  n't 
much  good  that  her  father  has  it  either,  if  he  won't 
come  down  with  it.  He  may  fail  a  dozen  times  over 
before  he  dies  ;  and  then  where  are  you  ?  " 

" 1  hear  you  are  going  it  pretty  strong  on  that 
good-looking  school-teacher,  up  at  Mrs.  Proudfoot's," 
said  Mr.  Widgery,  opening  a  flank  fire.  "  Is  that 
what  you  call  carrying  out  your  views  ?  You  had 
better  go  for  the  plain  one,  Miss  Finley,  if  that  is 
what  you  are  up  to.  She  has  money  in  the  savings 
bank." 

"  Never  you  mind  my  views  !  Mrs.  Proudfoot's 
is  the  champion  boarding-place,  and  Harvey's  Terrace 
can't  be  beat.  Ask  Whittemore  !  Nothing  could 
induce  me  to  go  back  to  Eighth  Street  now,  after 
having  tried  it." 

"  Oh,  Whittemore,  of  course.  It 's  homesickness  in 
his  case.     He  wants  to  be  near  Bridgehaven.    See  ?  " 

"  It  takes  but  half  an  hour  in  the  horse-cars,"  said 
Whittemore,  "  and  when  you  get  there  you  have 
something  worth  while :  good  air,  view  of  the  river, 
quiet,  everything  fine.  Ask  Klauser,  rather ;  he 
knows.  He  has  boarded  at  Harvey's  Terrace  ever 
since  Harvey  put  up  houses  there.  Come  up  to  din- 
ner, and  for  once  in  your  life  you  '11  say  you  've  had  a 
square  meal." 

The   anxious   college   graduate,  Jobson,   who    was 

2 


18  THE   HOUSE   OF   A    MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

learning  the  business  from  the  bottom  up,  at  three 
dollars  a  week,  paused  in  Iris  labor  of  wheeling  a 
truck  about  the  floor  to  admire  the  careless  ease  of 
manners  in  this  favored  upper  stratum. 

Ottilie  and  Bainbridge  meantime  had  happened 
upon  that  boon  of  conversation,  a  new  acquaintance. 

"  As  you  are  at  Vassar,"  said  Bainbridge,  "  I  dare 
say  you  may  know  the  Hasbrouck  girls  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,  indeed  ;  they  are  great  friends  of  mine," 
replied  Ottilie,  brightening. 

"  The  family  were  friends  of  mine,  too,  formerly.  I 
knew  them  in  Florida,  where  I  planted  oranges  a  year 
or  two,  after  the  war.  They  were  my  neighbors. 
Mrs.  Hasbrouck  was  particularly  civil  to  me  at  one 
time,  when  I  had  run  an  orange  thorn  into  my  foot. 
I  dare  say  you  never  met  with  that  kind  of  acci 
dent  ?  " 

"  Not  to  the  best  of  my  recollection." 

"  Well,  it  is  rather  painful,  and  slow  in  healing.  I 
was  living  in  an  uncomfortable,  bachelor  way,  and 
she  drove  over  and  looked  me  up.  The  girls  were 
mere  children  then.  I  saw  them  afterwards  in  Bal- 
timore, though,  when  they  had  grown  up.  Lulu  and 
Amy  —  they  were  of  the  real  Southern  type.  It 
was  a  pleasure  to  hear  them  pronounce  the  English 
language." 

"  Oh,  yes,  they  are  real  Southerners.  I  had  never 
known  any  before,  and  perhaps  that  drew  me  to 
them.  I  confess  to  a  slight  fondness  for  curiosities." 
Bainbridge  made  a  mental  note  of  this  as  a  taste  not 
greatly  differing  from  his  own.  "  They  are  sucli 
frank  and  generous  girls.  And  they  tell  you  about 
everything  that  has  ever  happened  to  them  in  such 


AN   AWKWARD   MEETING.  19 

an  amusing  way.  They  mention  all  of  their  friends 
and  acquaintances  by  name,  and  generally  the  first 
names.  I  am  perfectly  acquainted  with  a  multitude 
of  people  in  this  way.  There  are  Bobs,  Johns,  and 
Dicks,  who  have  been  their  ;  sweethearts.'  There  are 
4  Judge  Bibb,'  and  •  Major  Cooper,'  and  the  Wheeler 
family,  who  had  plantations  near  theirs,  —  Scott 
Wheeler,  and  William  Henry  Wheeler,  and  i  Brick- 
House  '  Wheeler,  and  I  don't  know  how  many  more." 

She  had  begun  to  attend  a  little  more,  as  she 
talked,  to  the  looks  of  her  companion.  He  had  one 
of  those  heads  not  too  round,  but  high,  clear-cut,  and 
symmetrical,  which  oftener  excel  in  wisdom  of  the 
acute  and  ingenious,  than  of  the  ponderous  sort. 
His  features  were  strong  and  good.  There  was  the 
trace  of  an  upright  furrow  between  his  brows,  and  a 
noticeable  small  spot  of  gold  sparkled  in  the  front 
of  his  otherwise  excellent  teeth.  He  might  have 
been  twenty-eight.  He  was  no  doubt  a  person  of 
consideration,  used,  among  other  things,  to  the  best 
company,  but  he  was  hardly  of  an  age  to  be  her  un- 
cle's leading  lawyer. 

"It  was  one  of  the  Wheeler  places  that  I  occu- 
pied as  a  tenant,"  said  Bainbridge. 

"  Was  it,  really  ?  You  see,  I  know  them  very, 
very  well." 

"  The  Hasbroucks  are  not  in  as  good  circumstances 
as  at  one  time,  I  believe  ?  " 

"  No,  indeed  ;  the  girls  will  probably  be  obliged  to 
teach.  We  sympathize  and  lay  our  plans  together. 
It  is  harder  for  them,  of  course,  because  they  had 
once  such  very  different  expectations.  They  were 
defrauded  of  a  part  of  their  property  by  an  agent, 
one  of  their  own  people  ;  and  it  seems  that  my  un- 


20  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

ele,"  hesitatingly,  "  has  tied  up  most  of  the  remain- 
der with  a  lawsuit,  which  gives  them  little  use  of  it. 
He  claims  it  on  an  old  debt,  from  before  the  war,  and, 
with  his  great  resources,  he  will  probably  win." 

"  It  does  not  act  as  an  impediment  to  your  friend- 
ship, it  seems." 

"  It  did  at  first.  When  the  girls  knew  that  I  was 
Rodman  Harvey's  niece  they  thought  I  would,  of 
course,  side  with  him  ;  but  when  I  came  to  under- 
stand the  true  state  of  the  case,  I  soon  let  them  know 
that  I  was  of  their  way  of  thinking,  and  sympathized 
with  no  such  oppression.  Since  then  they  have  not 
considered  me  at  all  to  blame." 

A  certain  naivete  in  this  statement  was  the  result 
of  its  earnestness.  The  speaker  suddenly  realized, 
when  it  was  uttered,  who  it  was  that  she  addressed. 
She  had  been  imprudent  enough  to  betray  her  adhe- 
sion to  an  obnoxious  cause  to  a  stranger,  and  a  con- 
fidential agent  of  the  enemy.  Would  he  make  men- 
tion of  it  to  his  principal  at  an  early  opportunity  ? 

The  merchant  prince  was  seen  coming  back,  and 
this  constituted  the  most  valid  of  interruptions. 


n. 

THE  ASPIRATIONS  OF  A  MERCHANT  PRINCE. 

The  merchant  prince  came  back  down  the  length 
of  his  store,  stopping  for  a  word  or  two  with  this 
person  and  that,  and  attended  by  a  halo  of  respect 
wherever  he  moved. 

He  was  a  small,  spare  man  of  sixty,  with  bushy 
gray  hair,  which  curled  in  a  roll  behind  his  ears.  He 
had  a  yellowish  skin,  tufts  of  gray  side  whisker,  and 
a  mouth  which,  by  long  habit  of  compression,  was 
but  a  straight  incision  across  his  face.  He  had  some- 
thing of  a  stoop.  His  dress  was  black  broadcloth, 
neat,  but  free  from  any  air  of  excessive  newness.  He 
carried  one  hand  to  his  ear,  in  a  way  very  imposing 
to  inferiors,  to  catch  what  you  had  said.  In  moments 
of  excitement  his  hearing  was  perfectly  good  without 
this  device. 

He  brought  back  with  him  his  eldest  son,  Selkirk 
Harvey. 

"  Selkirk,"  he  said,  "  is  in  the  white  goods  depart- 
ment, under  Mr.  Minn.  We  are  making  a  business 
man  of  him.  I  wish  him  to  be  trained  in  accurate 
business  habits,  for  the  responsibilities  which  are  to 
fall  upon  him  hereafter." 

Selkirk  took  a  slightly  deprecating  air  at  this  de- 
scription of  himself.  He  had  rather  mopish  manners, 
and  a  dull  but  not  disagreeable  expression.  His  teeth 
projected  upon  his  under  lip  in  the  way  which  seems 


22  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

to  be  always  pronouncing  the  letter  "v."  He  was 
more  student  than  merchant.  He  had  not,  if  the 
truth  may  be  told,  developed  business  talent  of  a  high 
order,  nor  a  keen  scent  for  gain.  With  all  parental 
fondness,  his  father  could  not  yet  estimate  him  in 
these  respects  as  of  a  calibre  equal  to  his  own.  But 
there  was  time  yet,  and  the  family  looked  for  Selkirk 
to  improve. 

When  presented  to  his  cousin,  he  shook  hands  with 
her  in  an  elaborate  manner,  and  afterwards  stood 
about,  regarding  her  in  silence,  —  whether  with  favor 
or  the  opposite  it  would  not  be  easy  to  say. 

Rodman  Harvey  took  Bainbridge  aside  for  a  mo- 
ment. The  matter  for  which  he  had  detained  him 
required  no  great  delay.  When  it  had  been  disposed 
of,  he  said  further,  "  Oh,  by  the  way  ;  just  write  into 
the  copy  for  the  amended  draft  of  the  will,  that  this 
niece  is  to  have  the  share  also  of  the  one  who  is  dead. 
It  seems  that  one  of  them  is  dead.  Do  you  under- 
stand? And  bring  me  the  whole  in  proper  shape  to- 
morrow." 

"  Very  well,  sir,"  answered  Bainbridge,  "  it  shall 
be  done." 

Rodman  Harvey  was  now  ready  to  take  his  de- 
parture. His  man,  Joseph,  was  waiting  without  in 
a  buggy,  behind  a  pair  of  fast-traveling  horses. 
Turning  to  Ottilie,  in  an  affable  mood,  the  merchant 
pressed  her  hospitably  to  get  in  and  go  up  town  with 
him. 

"We  are  at  the  Bayswater  Hotel  as  yet,"  he  said. 
"  Our  new  house  is  not  yet  completed.  They  turned 
us  out  of  Union  Square,  you  know.  They  wanted 
the  place  for  business.  Our  accommodations  are  nat- 
urally but  limited,  but  we  can  keep  you  a  few  days 


THE    ASPIRATIONS    OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE.         23 

as  well  as  not.  Your  aunt  will  be  very  glad  to  see 
you.  You  will  also  meet  my  daughter.  She  is  home 
from  Europe  now.  She  will  tell  you  all  about  her 
travels." 

"  Thank  you,  so  much,"  returned  Ottilie,  nerv- 
ously, with  a  secret  dread  lest  her  resistance  might 
somehow  be  overborne  in  spite  of  herself ;  "  but  I 
have  only  a  short  leave  of  absence,  which  has  expired. 
Every  day  is  important.  I  really  think  I  must  —  re- 
turn at  once." 

"Well,  another  time,  then  ;  another  time.  I  shall 
speak  to  your  aunt  about  you,  and  she  will  bear  you 
in  mind.  You  must  write  to  her.  She  will  make 
an  arrangement  for  some  of  your  vacations.  Since 
you  wish  to  teach,  perhaps  you  could  take  hold  of 
our  youngest,  Calista,  and  brighten  her  up  a  bit. 
She  makes  very  hard  work  of  everything.  Or  you 
might  call  it  a  secretaryship  to  Mrs.  Harvey,  or 
something  of  that  kind." 

Ottilie,  still  dissimulating,  murmured  thanks  for 
these  embarrassing  offers.  She  made  her  farewells 
in  a  timidly  smiling  manner,  and  took  her  seat  once 
more  beside  Klauser  in  the  hackney  coach. 

She  renewed  her  reproaches  to  that  faithless  indi- 
vidual, as  they  rolled  up  town  to  the  railway  station. 
Klauser  defended  himself  in  but  a  jumbled  way. 
He  could  plead  only  the  comparative  astoundingness 
of  the  fact  that  Rodman  Harvey  should  have  been 
found  at  his  place  of  business  at  that  hour. 

"  He  thinks  of  withdrawing  from  trade,"  he  said, 
"  and  now  generally  gives  his  afternoons  to  mul- 
tiplying outside  affairs.  He  will  set  up  a  new  firm, 
of  which  he  wishes  Selkirk  to  be  the  head.  He  will 
go  into  politics  again.     I  should  not  wonder  if  we 


24  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

saw  him  a  member  of  the  next  Congress.  He  lost 
the  nomination  the  last  time,  you  know,  —  or  per- 
haps you  don't  know,  —  through  the  manoeuvres  of 
his  rival,  General  Burlington.  He  could  attend  to 
his  other  interests,  his  railways  and  the  like,  just  as 
well  in  political  life,  —  perhaps  better.  I  have  also 
heard  him  complain  sometimes  of  attacks  of  vertigo. 
Trade  is  too  confining  for  him.  He  "  —  Klauser  was 
fast  departing  from  the  subject  at  issue. 

"  Still,"  said  Ottilie,  "  you  should  not  have  done 
it." 

They  had  got  on  so  well  together,  however,  during 
their  long  journey,  that  she  had  not  the  heart  for  an 
enduring  resentment.  The  young  girl  had  practiced 
her  German  with  him,  and  had  become  interested  in 
his  daughter.  This  latter  was  named  Wilhelmina. 
She  was  now  at  the  musical  conservatory  of  Leipsic. 
Ottilie  had  asked  him  how  long  he  had  been  in  our 
country,  and  fancied,  perhaps,  that  he  might  have 
been  a  child  of  the  revolutions,  with  some  romantic 
story.  To  this  he  replied  that  he  was,  indeed,  an  ex- 
ile for  political  reasons,  but  he  had  come  in  '42,  in- 
stead of  '48,  and  it  was  due  to  an  extra  tax,  which 
made  it  bad  for  the  business  in  which  he  had  been 
engaged. 

"  You  see  that  I,  too,  have  a  German  name,"  Ot- 
tilie had  told  him.  "  It  comes  down  in  the  family. 
My  mother's  father  came  from  Hesse  Darmstadt,  and 
settled  at  Cincinnati." 

Klauser  was  expecting  his  daughter  back  in  no 
long  time.  "  I  hope  you  will  do  me  the  favor  to 
come  and  see  what  you  think  of  her,"  he  said,  "  if 
you  visit  your  uncle  in  the  spring." 

"But   I   shall    not   visit    my   uncle,"  3he    replied 


THE   ASPIRATIONS   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE.  25 

sharply,  wondering  at  his  obtuse  lack  of  comprehen- 
sion. 

The  tide  of  life  which  had  eddied  deep  and  strong 
in  the  purlieus  of  the  lower  city  all  day  long,  had  set 
upward  on  its  return.  It  moved  at  a  uniform  pace, 
and  surged  impatiently  around  all  obstacles  that  came 
in  its  way.  Well-dressed  young  men  from  the  busi- 
ness offices  marched  with  breasts  thrown  out  and 
swinging  arms.  They  made  the  miles  in  sturdy  pe- 
destrian fashion,  not  forgetting  to  ogle,  on  the  way, 
the  pretty  shop-girls  hurrying  to  the  ferries.  The 
brokers  drove,  leaning  sedately  back  in  their  coupes. 
The  wild-eyed  and  distraught  of  the  morning,  who 
had  strained  to  be  on  time,  to  be  competent  for  des- 
perate exactions,  sinking,  perhaps,  under  the  frown 
of  taskmasters  and  dread  of  failure,  came  back  more 
languidly,  respited  for  the  day. 

Strangers  clustered  in  the  porches  and  low  win- 
dows of  the  hotels.  The  formal  waiters  at  the  luxu- 
rious restaurants  began  to  stand  with  folded  arms  be- 
side their  small  tables,  set  with  glass  and  silver  and 
snowy  damask.  Half  a  million  cooks  were  giving 
the  last  anxious  thought  to  half  a  million  dinners. 
Half  a  million  housewives  were  expecting  the  advent 
of  their  liege  lords  and  masters.  If  the  click  of  all 
the  latch-keys  which  now  began  to  turn  could  have 
been  heard  in  succession,  it  would  have  been  a  gen- 
uine fusilade. 

As  our  acquaintance,  Bainbridge,  went  onward  in 
the  procession  with  the  rest,  his  thoughts  recurred, 
from  time  to  time,  to  the  arrival  of  Ottilie,  her  amus- 
ing pique  at  himself,  and  the  slender  legacy  which  had 
befallen  her. 

"  I  am  glad  her  visit  availed  her  even  so  much,"  he 


26  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

said.  "  She  will  get  little  more,  should  he  take  never 
so  great  a  fancy  to  her.  Besides,  she  is  not  likely  to 
give  him  much  opportunity." 

He  deemed  himself  justified  in  this  view  with 
much  positiveness.  His  general  knowledge  of  the 
merchant's  character,  and  a  glimpse  of  certain  spe- 
cific aims  for  the  distribution  of  his  property  which 
he  had  obtained,  both  enforced  the  conviction.  Rod- 
man Harvey  had  desired  to  have  his  last  will  and 
testament,  which,  by  successive  alterations,  had  grown 
a  trifle  cumbrous,  re-cast  into  simpler  form,  and  had 
engaged  the  young  man  for  this  service.  It  was  to 
be  couched  in  such  clear  and  explicit  terms  as  to 
leave  no  room  for  impeachment  by  legal  quibbles. 

The  expressed  purpose  of  this  document  whs  to 
found  a  family.  The  bulk  of  the  testator's  posses- 
sions were  to  go  to  his  eldest  son,  chiefly  in  trust. 
By  him  they  were  to  be  passed  on,  through  a  limited 
species  of  entail,  to  the  farthest  generation  possible  ; 
and  it  was  hoped  that  this  system  would  be  contin- 
ued. 

Further  than  this,  Bainbridge  knew  his  patron's 
ingrained  habit  of  disparagement  of  all  who  had 
shown  a  less  virile  mastery  of  fortune  than  himself. 
Their  failure  was  too  apt  to  be  ascribed  to  voluntary 
lack  of  effort.  The  merchant  prince,  perhaps,  ex- 
empted his  own  children  from  the  rule,  as  somehow 
of  a  finer  clay ;  but  for  all  others  what  was  needed 
was  unaided  exertion,  that  their  full  powers  might  be 
developed  under  the  goad  of  necessity. 

"  Whom  did  I  ever  have  to  extend  a  helping  hand 
to  me  ?  "  he  asked.  "  And  where  should  I  have  been 
if  I  had  waited  for  it?  Have  I  not  shown,  by  my 
own  career,  that  nothing  of  the  kind  is  necessary  ?  " 


THE   ASPIRATIONS   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE.         27 

The  young  attorney's  clerk  summed  up  his  opinion 
of  the  whole  in  a  vigorous  "  Bah  ?  " 

"  Still,  there  are  worse  people,"  he  continued, 
within  himself,  "  oh,  much  worse.  His  sins  are  of 
omission  rather  than  of  commission,  after  all.  Very 
little  is  heard  against  him,  even  in  the  fierce  light 
that  beats  upon  so  influential  a  position.  His  occu- 
pation is  useful  to  men.  He  is  not  one  of  those,  at 
any  rate,  whose  life  is  a  mere  setting  of  traps,  and 
their  wealth  the  spoils  of  the  unwary.  One  should 
make  allowances.  Perhaps  I  make  too  many  allow- 
ances. I  dare  say,  however,  that  that  is  what  one 
who  needs  them  should  do." 

Musing  thus,  he  came  up  again  with  Ottilie. 

The  central  part  of  the  serried  procession  had 
been  checked  at  the  point  where  it  debouches  into 
Union  Square.  The  bronze  Washington  was  there 
on  horseback,  extending  a  majestic  arm  above,  as  if 
to  marshal  it.  The  bronze  Lafayette,  holding  his 
sword  and  cloak  to  his  breast,  bowed  to  it  with  a 
courtly  grace.  The  gaunt,  plain-visaged  Lincoln,  let 
it  be  fancied,  regarded  it  with  that  "  Charity  towards 
all,  and  malice  towards  none,'r  which  was  the  motto 
of  his  blameless  career.  Sonorous  commands  re- 
sounded. Could  it  indeed  be  that  the  bronze  Wash- 
ington was  ordering  which  columns  should  deploy  to 
the  left,  which  to  the  right,  which  should  keep  on 
through  the  Park,  with  its  leafless  trees,  its  benches 
preempted  by  tramps,  and  its  fountain,  around  which, 
though  boarded  in  for  the  winter,  the  nursemaids  still 
trundled  their  charges  ? 

A  cab-horse  had  fallen,  and  a  great  pair  of  wheels 
carrying,  slung  in  chains,  a  mammoth  building-stone, 
stopped  the  way.     The  stalwart  police  of  the  Broad- 


28  THE   HOUSE   OF   A  MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

way  squad  endeavored  to  clear  the  chaos.  The  clamor 
was  theirs.  The  fallen  cab-horse  sank  back  supine 
under  the  efforts  to  raise  him.  The  affair  seemed 
vastly  more  that  of  others  than  his  own.  The  driv- 
ers clutched  their  whips,  and  muttered  curses  in  im- 
potent rage. 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  Bainbridge  caught  sight  of 
her  with  whom  his  thoughts  were  still  more  or  less 
occupied.  She  was  looking  out  pensively  into  the 
confusion.  The  top  of  the  carriage  had  been  put  up, 
and  the  square  opening  inclosed  her  like  a  frame.  Her 
white  skin,  and  hair,  under  the  brim  of  her  black 
hat,  were  illumined  upon  the  dusk  interior  like  an  old 
portrait  of  the  Flemish  school.  She  did  not  smile 
again  at  the  young  man,  but  bowed  gravely  as  he 
doffed  his  hat.  Then,  by  an  onward  movement  of 
all  the  wheels,  she  was  once  more  swallowed  up. 

Rodman  Harvey,  checked  in  this  stoppage  like 
others,  sat  in  his  buggy  at  a  point  where  a  political 
banner  had  been  stretched  across  the  street.  It  was 
adorned  with  rude  portraits  of  the  candidates,  and 
was  riddled,  a  cynic  might  have  said,  as  a  device  for 
baffling  the  wind,  with  as  many  holes  as  their  repu- 
tations might  expect  to  be  before  the  campaign  was 
over. 

The  merchant  prince  looked  up  with  interest  at 
this  banner.  He  hoped  that  similar  ones  were  to  be 
hung  out  for  himself  in  the  near  future. 

"  Do  you  hear  anything  of  interest  about  my  pros* 
pects  for  the  Congressional  nomination,"  he  said,  sud- 
denly reminded  by  this,  and  turning  to  his  son,  who 
sat  at  his  side,  "  in  the  talk  that  has  been  set  going 
of  late?" 

"  I  have  happened  to  hear  Dr.  Wyburd  "  — 


THE  ASPIRATIONS   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE.         29 

"  Wyburd  goes  everywhere  arid  sees  everybody. 
He  is  a  repository  of  universal  information.  I  sup- 
pose his  opinion  ought  to  be  good  for  something. 
Well,  what  does  he  say  ?  " 

"  He  honestly  thinks  that  your  having  moved  into 
the  district  and  put  up  so  expensive  a  residence  in  it, 
will  conciliate  public  favor  to  your  side  much  more 
than  formerly.  He  thinks  that  Burlington  will  try 
for  the  nomination,  and,  failing  to  secure  it,  throw  his 
influence  for  a  third  person  the  same  way  as  before  ; 
but  this  time  the  programme  will  be  less  successful." 

'•So  say  Hackley  and  Hastings,"  coincided  his 
father.  "  Of  course,  it  is  very  far  in  advance,  but  it 
is  well  to  take  time  by  the  forelock.  Burlington  is 
a  hard  fighter.  We  shall  have  to  look  out  for  him. 
Ever  since  he  returned  from  his  foreign  mission  he 
has  been  looking  for  oflice.  He  is  needy  ;  that  is  the 
trouble.  If  it  were  not  for  that  Burlington  would  be 
well  enough." 

"  It  does  not  seem  to  me  such  a  very  great  oflice," 
said  the  son. 

11  \  on  do  not  understand  it.  To  represent  in  Con- 
gress the  district  of  principal  wealth  and  social  stand- 
ing in  New  York  is  a  very  respectable  thing,  and 
something  that  easily  leads  much  higher." 

The  merchant  prince  felt  vaguely  that  he  should 
be  more  comfortable  in  his  mind  if  only  with  the 
letters  M.  ('.  after  his  name.  It  would  put  him  on 
equal  terms  with  his  correspondent,  the  French  dep- 
uty, whose  siiks  ;iii«l  velvets  of  Lyons  he  imported  ; 
and  the  maker  of  his  English  woolen  cloths,  who 
a  member  of  Parliament.  With  both  of  these 
dignitaries  he  sometimes  exchanged  Letters  and  small 
gifts  of  persona]  courtesy,  apart  from  business  deal- 


30  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

ings.  For  the  founding  of  a  family,  too,  all  those 
things  which  pass  reputably  into  tradition,  were  use- 
ful as  well  as  money. 

"  But  now  a  little  as  to  your  own  affairs,"  he  said 
presently  to  Selkirk,  leaving  this  subject:  "  Mr.  Minn 
tells  me  that  you  are  not  as  attentive  as  you  might 
be.     You  were  away  recently  for  a  couple  of  days." 

"  I  ran  over  to  Philadelphia  for  a  book-sale.  It 
was  something  very  important.  There  were  volumes 
I  wanted  for  my  collection,  which  I  could  get  no- 
where else." 

"  Nothing  of  that  kind  is  important  to  a  person  in 
your  position.  How  often  must  I  tell  you  so  ?  Your 
old  books  and  China  plates  may  be  well  enough  in 
their  way,  but  not  for  one  who  has  something  to  do 
in  the  world." 

Selkirk  murmured  a  protest. 

"  No,  I  tell  you.  I  observe  with  grief  your  ten- 
dency to  be  led  away  by  what  is  not  to  the  purpose, 
in  your  direction,  just  as  your  brother  Rodman  is  by 
an  incorrigible  recklesness,  in  his.  Here  are  letters 
from  this  new  military  school,  for  which  he  pretended 
such  a  fancy,  showing  that  he  is  as  bad  as  ever.  It 
is  a  question  whether  they  will  be  able  to  keep  him 
there  at  all.  But  you  are  to  be  the  nominal  head, 
at  least,  of  the  new  firm  which  I  design  to  establish, 
with  Mr.  Minn,  Mr.  Hackley,  —  who  wishes  to  come 
in,  as  you  know,  —  and  others,  as  your  assistants. 
It  should  be  your  pride  and  duty  to  be  its  real  head, 
both  for  the  purpose  of  adding  to  what  I  may  legiti- 
mately call  the  glories  of  the  old  house,  and  to  the 
sum  of  the  fortune  which  I  shall  leave  to  your  charge. 
It  may  be  that  I  was  wrong  in  sending  you  to  Har- 
vard.    I  was  put  into  the  traces  at  fourteen,  and  per- 


THE  ASPIRATIONS   OF  A   MERCHANT   PRINCE.         31 

haps  I  should  have  done  the  same  with  you.  But  it 
is  too  late  now.  You  know  well  the  main  purpose 
for  which  I  leave  you  this  fortune." 

"  Yes,"  responded  the  heir. 

"  Anybody  and  everybody  founds  a  library,  a  hos- 
pital, a  university,  nowadays.  They  are  often  brow- 
beaten, or  flattered  into  it  by  the  newspapers.  It 
seems  to  both  your  mother  and  myself  much  more 
desirable  to  try  to  perpetuate  our  name  by  establish- 
ing a  line  of  descendants  in  the  community  in  such 
a  way  as  to  always  hold  an  impressive  position.  I 
myself  have  no  claim  to  pride  of  birth.  I  am  self- 
made.  Whatever  we  have  of  that  kind  is  on  your 
mother's  side.  But  the  idea  seems  to  me,  too,  a 
good  one,  and  it  is  not,  like  that  of  the  hospitals  and 
colleges,  overdone.  Our  laws,  of  course,  as  compared 
with  those  abroad,  are  not  framed  to  aid  in  carrying 
it  out.  Still,  something  can  be  done.  I  have  ar- 
ranged the  whole  in  this  manner.  The  will  has 
just  been  re-drawn  to-day." 

Selkirk  gazed  about  with  a  rather  wearied  air,  as  if 
he  had  heard  much  of  this  before. 

"  I  have  given  to  your  mother  all  my  plate  and 
household  effects,  my  horses  and  carriages,  her  own 
apparel  and  personal  belongings,  my  house  at  New- 
port, my  farm  at  Brompton,  Massachusetts,  where  I 
was  born,  my  residence  now  in  course  of  erection  at 
the  corner  of  Fifth  Avenue  and  West  Blank  Street, 
—  all  these  for  her  natural  life,  without  impeachment 
of  waste.  I  have  devised  her,  in  lieu  of  dower, 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars  a  year,  to  be  paid  out  of 
the  residuary  real  estate.  I  have  made  liberal  pro- 
vision for  both  my  daughters.  I  have  made  a  liberal 
provision,  also,  for  my  second  son,  Rodman,  Jr.,  this 


32  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

in  the  hands  of  trustees,  to  guard  against  the  devel- 
opment of  further  unruly  tendencies,  which  give  me 
already  serious  concern." 

"  All  the  rest,  besides  such  reversions  as  there  may 
be,  is  yours,"  the  speaker  continued,  after  a  short 
pause,  during  which  the  buggy  narrowly  escaped  col- 
lision with  another  vehicle  ;  "  all  the  rest  is  yours. 
That  is  to  say,  it  is  yours  to  hold  in  trust  for  poster- 
ity. One  half  of  the  personal  property  will  be  yours 
in  full  ownership ;  the  other  half,  together  with  the 
real  estate,  will  be  handed  down.  I  have  expressed 
my  earnest  hope  and  entreaty  that  when  the  proper 
time  shall  arrive,  you  will  follow  the  same  policy 
and  aid  to  make  the  tradition  of  as  binding  force 
as  possible." 

"  I  shall  conform  to  your  desire,"  said  Selkirk. 

"  There  is  another,  connected,  matter,  about  which 
it  does  not,  of  course,  become  me  to  hurry  you,  but 
I  trust  you  give  it  your  attention.  It  begins  to  be 
time  that  you  were  settled  in  the  world.  If  such 
were  your  disposition,  I  should  have  no  objection  to 
your  taking  a  wife." 

"  Yes,"  said  the  son,  "  taking  a  wife.     Still  "  — 

"  You  should  have  no  great  difficulty  in  choosing, 
with  all  the  interesting  young  women  there  are  in 
society.  What  do  you  think  now  of  Goldstone's 
daughter  ?  or  Miss  Ada  Trull  ?  You  will  want  good 
looks,  I  suppose.  Or  there  is  Lehigh  Cole's  girl. 
She  will  have  a  very  pretty  fortune  ;  and  your  mother 
would  approve  of  her,  or  of  any  of  these,  in  fact "  — 
said  the  merchant  prince,  bringing  the  matter  down 
to  a  practical  issue. 

Selkirk  showed  but  languid  enthusiasm  over  these 
young  women.     When  pressed,  he  said  in  a  hesitat- 


THE   ASPIRATIONS   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE.  66 

ing  way  that  he  was  not  sure  he  greatly  cared  for  any 
of  "  the  regular  kind." 

The  up-town  procession  spread  out  once  more  into 
the  opening  of  Madison  Square.  It  was  reduced 
now  by  constant  depletion.  Still,  the  bronze  Seward 
at  the  edge  of  the  grass-plots,  whose  business  it  is 
said  to  be  to  keep  the  tally  of  the  passers-by  on  his 
tablets,  had  enough  and  to  spare  to  do.  The  trucks 
and  drays  had  rattled  away  east  and  west  over  the 
broken  pavements  of  the  remote  side  streets  to  near 
the  rivers.  They  would  stand  for  the  night  in  front 
of  high,  dingy,  brick  tenement  houses,  and  serve  as 
tribunes  for  the  sports  of  ragged  urchins.  The  hon- 
est beasts  which  had  drawn  them,  which  had  once 
known  the  sweet  air  and  herbage  of  farm  pastures, 
were  led  to  ill-smelling,  make-shift  stalls  where  it 
Was  much  if  they  could  stand  upright. 

The  steaming  dinners  were  served  now ;  the  anx- 
ious housewives  had  met  their  spouses.  The  formal 
waiters  at  Delmonico's,  the  Brunswick,  and  the  rest, 
had  uncrossed  their  arms,  and  were  flying  hither  and 
thither  with  orders.  Through  the  windows  their  ele- 
gant patrons  could  be  seen  smiling  in  their  talk  across 
the  small  tables.  The  gas  began  to  flare  brightly 
before  the  theatres,  and  leisurely  persons  to  lounge 
there  filliping  small  bundles  of  tickets  in  anticipation 
of  the  coming  audiences. 

Ottilie,  in  her  railway  train,  was  bowling  along,  in 
the  early  night,  by  the  shores  of  the  stately  Hudson 
whose  high  palisades  reechoed  to  its  rattling.  A 
telegram  had  been  dispatched,  that  she  might  be  met 
at  her  journey's  end.  The  many-winged  many- 
storied  institution  to  which    she  returned    twinkled 

2 


34  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

with  lights.  A  feathery  snow  had  begun  to  fall, 
adding  to  the  carpet  of  white  which  lay  before  it 
broken  by  dark  clumps  of  evergreens  and  trees  de- 
nuded of  their  foliage. 

She  was  kissed  and  embraced  on  this  side  and  that, 
and  sank  down  at  last  in  a  dazed  way  in  her  room. 
She  wished,  in  a  homesick  mood,  that  this  need  of 
roaming  the  great  wearisome  world  did  not  exist, 
that  the  allotted  term  of  her  stay  were  over,  and  she 
need  never  again  leave  dear  old  appreciative  Lone 
Tree.  Unable  to  sleep  at  once,  though  tired,  she 
wrote  a  letter  to  acquaint  her  family  with  her  safe 
arrival.  The  missive  expanded  considerably  beyond 
its  projected  limits.  She  had  taken  many  a  note  of 
novel  things  on  the  way,  which  she  wove  into  it. 
She  had  passed  Niagara  in  the  night,  having  come 
by  this  route  for  the  first  time.  She  had  opened  the 
window  of  her  berth,  as  they  crossed  the  Suspension 
Bridge,  and  heard  it  roar,  and  even  seen  the  mist  ris- 
ing. Rarely,  perhaps,  had  the  venerable  cataract 
roared  and  shaken  its  hoary  beard  for  the  pleasure 
of  a  more  brightly  appreciative  young  person. 

The  staple  matter  of  the  letter  was  naturally  the 
unexpected  meeting  with  her  uncle.  She  described 
his  manner,  at  first  fierce,  then  conciliatory.  Ah,  if 
he  only  were  what  he  ought  to  be !  It  was  a  way  of 
speaking  they  often  had  at  home.  In  early  times  the 
children  had  been  given  to  making  great  use  of  this 
rich  uncle  as  a  deus  ex  machina  in  their  projects. 
Her  brother  Paul  had  figured  him  as  leading  by  the 
bridle  a  pony  of  the  most  desirable  size  and  breed 
for  him.  She  herself  had  thought  it  probable  that  he 
would  walk  into  their  abode  some  day  and  ask  her 
to  put  on  her  things  and  travel  with  him  several 
years  in  Europe. 


THE   ASPIRATIONS   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE.  35 

A  young  man  who  had  formerly  planted  oranges 
in  Florida,  and  was  now  an  attorney's  clerk,  was  not 
mentioned  in  this  letter  further  than  as  "  an  odd,  pat- 
ronizing kind  of  person  who  overheard  part  of  my 
interview  with  Uncle  Rodman." 

Mr.  Klauser  having  discharged  his  duty  at  the  cen- 
tral railway  station,  took  his  way  back,  with  a  feel- 
ing of  relief  that  the  hardships  of  another  campaign 
were  at  length  over,  to  his  comfortable  chambers  at 
Mrs.  Proudfoot's  boarding-house,  in  Harvey's  Ter- 
race. At  the  dinner  table,  Mr.  Mahaffey,  ex-alderman 
and  now  a  functionary  of  the  comptroller's  depart- 
ment, with  Dr.  Gaffin  the  dentist,  and  Dr.  Reinboldt 
the  druggist,  welcomed  him  gravely,  inquired  after 
the  success  of  his  journey,  and  fell  to  comparing 
notes  on  the  respective  merits  of  the  Erie,  Central, 
and  Pan  Handle  routes  to  the  West. 

His  young  fellow  employees,  the  clerks  Cutler  and 
Whittemore,  who  were  posted  at  an  end  of  the  table 
in  the  near  vicinity  of  the  comely  school-teacher  Miss 
Speller,  and  her  bosom  friend,  Miss  Finley,  were 
much  less  serious  in  their  tone.  They  ventured  upon 
certain  freedoms  with  Klauser  by  reason  of  long  ac- 
quaintance. 

"  Aha,  we  saw  you  this  afternoon,"  began  Mr.  Cut- 
ler. "  Sly  rascal  !  This  thing  of  bringing  back  fas- 
cinating young  ladies  from  the  West  will  bear  look- 
ing into.  If  I  might  advise  Mrs.  Proudfoot,  a  rather 
sharp  eye  should  be  kept  on  the  doings  of  Mr. 
Klauser." 

"She  was  the  daughter  of  the  old  man's  brother," 
replied  Klauser.  "  And  a  mighty  nice  girl  she  is. 
You  don't  find  many  such  nowadays :  a  scholar,  ac- 


36  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

complisbed,  kind-hearted,  no  airs  about  her,  and  good- 
looking  into  the  bargain.  I  was  proud  to  have  her 
in  my  company,  I  can  tell  you.  She  made  everybody 
in  the  parlor  car  like  her,  in  the  two  days  we  were 
coming  on  from  Chicago." 

44  They  say  her  father  has  n't  a  cent  to  bless  him- 
self with ;  never  knows  where  the  next  meal  is  com- 
ing from." 

"  Nothing  of  the  kind  !  Not  so  bad  as  that !  "  re- 
turned Klauser  with  heat.  "  They  have  a  very  pretty 
homestead,  and,  as  the  principal  merchant  of  the 
place,  Alfred  B.  Harvey  has  a  neat  business,  which 
with  good  management  ought  to  yield  him  very  fair 
returns.  Still,  he  is  not  the  best  calculator  in  the 
world,  and  he  probably  gets  as  little  out  of  it  as  any^ 
body  could." 

"  Whatever  took  him  off  there  to  such  an  out- 
landish place,  when  he  was  at  one  time  a  partner  in 
the  firm,  and  engaged  in  big  affairs  ?  " 

"  Bad  management,  obstinacy,  unpractical  ideas. 
He  went  into  the  coal  business  once,  and  failed.  Then 
he  tried  leather,  and  failed  again.  Finally,  when  he 
was  all  broke  up,  his  brother  happened  to  have  this 
store  at  Lone  Tree,  which  he  had  taken  for  debt, 
and  put  him  into  it  as  a  resource  for  supporting  his 
family.  A.  B.  worked  hard  till  he  had  paid  for  it 
and  made  it  his  own,  then  went  to  wrangling  with 
his  brother,  as  he  had  done  pretty  much  always. 
He  is  one  of  the  most  independent  fellows  you  ever 
saw.  In  some  respects  it  seems  as  if  his  daughter 
took  after  him." 

Bainbridge  meanwhile  was  putting  himself  in 
evening  dress  for  a  social  engagement,  a  meeting  of 
the  Harmonic  Club,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  at 
musical  Mrs.  Clef's. 


III. 

AT  MUSICAL  MRS.  CLEF'S. 

Mrs.  Clef,  a  scion  of  the  old  so  much  esteemed 
Knickerbocker  stock,  was  a  lady  of  excellent  social 
standing.  She  had  had  losses,  and  had  reconstructed 
her  circle.  She  had  contracted  it  to  moderate  di- 
mensions, and  based  it  upon  her  ruling  taste,  which 
was  music. 

She  had  the  faculty  of  enlisting  in  her  service  the 
leading  professionals  who  appeared  in  turn.  These 
came  willingly  to  a  hostess  of  cordial,  unconstrained 
manners,  a  person  of  intelligent  sympathy,  and  a 
performer,  besides,  of  no  mean  skill.  She  was  said  to 
have  played  before  Liszt  and  Thalberg. 

In  her  pleasant  apartments  at  the  Brandenberg,  a 
fashionable  semi-hotel  on  Madison  Avenue,  she  had 
old  family  portraits,  and  furniture  of  an  elegant  an- 
tique sort,  which  was  a  reminder  of  a  former  more 
stately  and  expensive  style  of  living.  A  famous 
violinist,  in  a  freak,  had  been  allowed  to  write  his 
name  across  one  of  the  door-jambs. 

Mrs.  Clef  was  of  an  easy  liberality  of  views,  and 
encouraged  ease  in  her  guests.  She  was  fonder  of 
young  than  elderly  company,  perhaps  to  keep  off  in- 
trusive suggestions  of  advancing  age.  She  made  a 
delightful  chaperon  for  certain  young  women,  who 
were  accustomed  to  come  often  in  search  of  her  for 
that  service.  She  was  usually  ready  at  the  shortest 
notice  for  their  excursions. 


38  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

Most  things  were  treated  of  here  with  a  humorous 
cynicism  that  nothing  greatly  shocked.  Mrs.  Clef 
made  a  pretense  of  throwing  off  tiresome  caution 
with  which  the  world  is  stifling  itself,  and  said  sharp, 
bright  things  of  people.  It  was  generally  with  the 
implication,  however,  that  she  thought  little  the  worse 
of  them  for  it,  and  that  she  herself  was  subject  to  the 
same  sort  of  treatment,  as  a  matter  of  course. 

The  graceless  Huyskamps,  who  fell  with  a  sort  of 
helplessness  from  one  sin  and  folly  to  another,  came 
in  for  hardly  more  disparagement  than  the  upright 
Walkills,  who,  with  large  wealth  and  not  a  little 
fashion,  professed  a  strict  evangelical  piety.  To  the 
fine  large  houses  of  the  Walkills,  in  fact,  a  certificate 
of  church  membership  was  almost  a  prerequisite  of 
admission. 

The  air  of  refined  Bohemianism,  together  with  the 
excellent  music,  had  attracted  Russell  Bainbridge 
among  others.  In  a  desultory  frequenting  of  society, 
—  in  which  he  was  to  be  but  irregularly  counted  upon 
at  best,  —  he  sought  by  preference  those  places  which 
promised  variety.  The  worldly  tone  prevailing,  too, 
was  that  which  he  was  pleased  at  present  to  call  his 
own.  After  an  experience  of  life  which  had  not  an- 
swered to  his  sanguine  wishes,  he  considered  himself 
a  rather  hardened  person.  Still,  it  is  probable  that 
it  would  have  much  troubled  the  conscience  of  which 
he  sometimes  made  very  light,  to  have  greatly  in- 
jured any  human  being. 

To  many  of  the  ambitious,  after  the  long  miscar- 
riage of  favorite  plans,  there  is  apt  to  come  a  period 
of  revolt.  Since  all  that  had  been  deemed  sufficient 
and  of  binding  authority  has  proved  so  unpropitious 
to  cherished  aspirations  for  happiness,  perhaps  there 


AT   MUSICAL   MRS.    CLEF'S.  39 

are  other  systems,  other  directions,  in  which  it  may 
now  permissibly  be  sought. 

Bainbridge  was  passing  a  life,  now  unlikely,  he 
deemed,  to  be  of  special  importance  to  any  one,  in  an 
attitude  (if  the  contradictory  traits  may  be  joined) 
of  calm  recklessness.  "  At  least,"  he  said,  putting 
his  experiences  together,  "  I  shall  have  lived ;  I  shall 
not  have  stagnated." 

A  volatile  spirit  and  susceptibility  to  humor,  not 
wholly  repressed  by  any  adversity,  played  above  this 
tragic  substratum,  so  far  as  it  was  genuine,  just  as 
will-o'-the-wisps  are  said  to  dance  cheerfully  over 
black  and  dangerous  pools. 

Mrs.  Clef,  in  person,  sang,  swelling  out  her  ample 
throat  and  bosom  in  the  process.  Signor  Banderoli 
gave  a  comic  duet  from  "  Don  Pasquale,"  with  his 
pupil,  Miss  Stella  Burgess.  He  made  that  young 
lady  herself  smile  with  his  droll  grimaces,  though 
she  knew  them  so  well  of  old. 

Among  those  who  played  the  piano  with  a  notice- 
able degree  of  skill,  was  a  Miss  Emily  Rawson.  She 
captured  Bainbridge  afterwards,  as  it  seemed  she 
had  sometimes  done  before,  and  led  him  away  to  one 
of  the  chintz-covered  sofas. 

"  What  a  stranger  you  are  !  I  had  to  put  up  my 
glass  before  I  knew  you,"  she  began.  "Are  you 
never  coming  near  me  any  more  ?  What  made  you 
drop  out  of  the  reading  club?  As  to  that  poor  Ger- 
man class,  you  have  set  such  an  example  that  we  are 
quite  in  despair.  Professor  Blauvelt  says  we  must 
have  fines.  We  think  of  going  to  the  German  the- 
atre in  a  body,  a  week  from  to-morrow  night.  Will 
you  not  come  ?  " 

She  spoke  in  a  high-pitched,  agreeable  voice,  which 


40  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

conveyed  in  itself  fashion  and  refined  prosperity. 
She  was  of  plain  but  lady-like  aspect,  and  richly  at- 
tired. A  dot  of  court-plaster  coquettishly  aided  her 
complexion.  She  appeared  of  a  rather  frail  and  ner- 
vous type,  and  perhaps  not  far  from  Bainbridge's 
own  age. 

This  was  a  young  woman  who,  in  her  native  city, 
had  "  outgrown  her  set."  Experiencing  a  certain  mor- 
tification to  see  all  her  friends  married  about  her,  she 
had  set  off,  with  an  unenergetic,  widowed  mother, 
upon  her  travels.  They  went  first  to  Europe,  where 
they  sojourned  in  numerous  pensions,  and  the  daugh- 
ter perfected  her  music ;  then  to  the  health  springs  of 
Colorado  and  Florida.  They  had  settled,  finally,  in 
New  York,  as  a  portion  of  that  star-dust  which  the 
great  city  gathers,  part  come  to  seek  its  fortune,  part 
to  spend  it  in  the  greatest  variety  of  ways. 

The  mother  had  a  feeble  motto,  "  Whatever  is  to 
be  will  be,"  but  her  daughter  had  latterly  taken  the 
disposition  of  her  own  fate  and  of  all  their  affairs 
very  much  into  her  own  hands.  She  was  ambitious 
both  of  the  married  state  and  a  social  career.  Thus 
far  she  had  had  no  great  success  in  any  plans  she 
may  have  laid  for  either.  Without  money  suffi- 
cient to  impress  itself  upon  so  great  a  city,  though  a 
snug  amount  in  itself,  she  had  been  able  to  draw 
around  her  only  a  somewhat  miscellaneous  circle, 
composed  of  acquaintances  of  travel,  the  watering- 
places,  coteries  of  music,  the  languages,  decorative 
arts,  and  religion,  —  into  all  of  which  she  had 
plunged  in  a  craving  for  excitement  and  new  oppor- 
tunities. 

She  had  secured  a  great  deal  of  Bainbridge's  so- 
ciety by  a  pertinacious  ingenuity  of  invention.    They 


AT    MUSICAL   MBS.    CLEF'S.  41 

bad  been  associated  in  the  pleasant  intimacy  of  pri- 
vate theatricals,  of  musical  duets,  and  classes  in  read- 
ing and  the  languages.  She  had  even  asked  him  to 
come  and  smoke  to  her,  ingratiating  herself  on  the 
side  of  his  comfort.  She  believed  in  him,  or  affected 
to,  and  predicted  fine  things  of  his  future.  When 
he  grumbled  at  ill-luck  and  poverty,  of  which  he 
made  no  sort  of  secret,  she  said,  "  We  are  all  poor  in 
a  genteel  way."  She  professed  simple  and  domestic 
tastes,  but  at  the  same  time  artfully  dangled  before 
him,  under  pretext  of  taking  his  advice  on  the  price 
of  certain  stocks  and  bonds,  glimpses  of  her  private 
fortune. 

Bainbridge,  since  his  losses  and  the  affair  of  Made- 
line Scarrett,  hardly  looked  upon  himself  as  an  eligi- 
ble person  from  the  matrimonial  point  of  view.  He 
would  not  have  been  averse  to  continuing  a  platonic 
relation  with  a  person  so  prepossessing  in  many 
ways,  and  one  who  had  the  good  taste  to  appreciate 
his  merits  so  highly,  but  further  than  that  he  did  not 
wish  it  to  go. 

Miss  Rawson  secretly  thought  otherwise  as  to  his 
eligibility.  She  made  her  own  estimate  of  the  value 
of  his  connection  with  the  Hudson  Hendricks,  a  family 
of  the  first  prominence,  whose  near  kinsman  he  was. 
With  her  income  and  the  social  advantages  open  to 
him,  she  would  have  counted  on  making  a  bold  push 
to  the  front  rank  in  society. 

From  certain  signs,  —  he  hoped  it  was  not  a  mere 
masculine  vanity,  —  the  young  man  had  regretted  to 
suspect  her  of  making  what  is  called  a  "  dead  set  " 
at  him,  and  thought  it  prudent  to  rather  withdraw 
from  the  intimacy.  He  yielded  himself  now  to  her 
old  air  of  bon  cameraderie  ;  he  could  hardly  do  less, 


42  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

but  whispered  to  himself  at  the  same  time,  "  Suaviter 
in  mo do >,  for -titer  in  re" 

"  I  really  fear  I  shall  not  be  able  to.  An  engage- 
ment "  — he  began,  in  reply  to  her  invitation. 

"  Oh,  always  some  engagement ;  always  some- 
thing !     You  do  not  wish  to." 

"  Oh,  really  "  —  he  protested. 

She  began  to  question  him  as  to  the  doings  of  late, 
which  could  have  kept  him  away  from  her.  What 
was  the  McMurray-Bourdon  wedding  like  ? "  she 
asked.  "  Were  there  as  many  guests  at  Mrs.  An- 
tram's  ball  as  usual  ?  "  She  had  the  names  and  de- 
scriptions of  leading  society  people  at  her  tongue's 
end,  having  acquired  them  from  the  position  of  a 
very  near  observer. 

He  had  gone  to  a  Turkish  bath  instead  of  the  wed- 
ding, he  said,  and  an  unconventional  evening  at  the 
Rembrandt  Sketch  Club,  to  which  he  had  been 
asked,  instead  of  the  ball. 

This  neglect  of  such  choice  opportunities  in  favor 
of  something  very  ordinary  and  "  common  "  seemed 
to  Miss  Emily  Rawson  little  short  of  sacrilege.  The 
Antrams'  ball  was  the  principal  event  of  the  winter. 
A  team  of  wild  horses  could  not  have  kept  her  from 
either  that  or  the  McMurray-Bourdon  wedding,  if 
the  chances  had  been  hers. 

"  Society  and  I  neglect  each  other  very  much," 
said  Bainbridge.  "  I  wonder  it  doesn't  cross  me  off 
its  books  more  than  it  does.  I  suppose  people  forget. 
Mrs.  Rifflard,  for  instance,  must  be  in  a  very  pretty 
muddle,  among  her  list  of  a  thousand  invitations.  I 
tell  her  my  name  when  I  go  in.  'Mr.  Bainbridge.' 
1  Ah,  Mr.  Bainbridge  !  It  is  so  good  of  you  to  come.' 
I  doubt  if  she  knows  me  from  Adam.     My  Hudson 


AT    MUSICAL   MRS.    CLEF'S.  43 

Hendricks  were  good  enough  to  start  me  very  fairly 
in  that  sort  of  thing  some  years  ago.  I  have  culti- 
vated it  about  as  little  —  it  really  seems  amusingly 
impudent  to  say  so  —  as  the  greatest  snob  in  town, 
—  young  Kingbolt,  or  Austin  Sprowle,  or  Sprowle 
Onderdonk,  for  example,  who  assert  that  it  is  only 
strugglers  for  position  who  make  dinner  visits,  or 
show  any  particular  recognition  of  civilities  offered 
them.  In  my  case,  it  is  partly  a  native  apathy,  I 
suppose,  and  partly  —  I  could  hardly  tell  you  what. 
If  I  am  treated  ill,  that  stands  for  itself ;  if  well,  I 
consider  it  a  case  of  false  pretenses.  There  is  at- 
tributed to  me,  no  doubt,  a  bank  account  and  other 
advantages  I  don't  possess." 

"  You  think  money  then  of  so  much  conse- 
quence ?  " 

"  Lack  of  it  is  the  only  crime  that  is  not  forgiven. 
Its  possession  is  the  one  thing  interesting  to  hear 
about.  What  is  done  in  courts  and  camps  is  of  no 
moment  nowadays.     It  is  what  is  done  in  a  bank." 

"For  my  part,"  said  Miss  Rawson,  with  a  rather 
meaning  air,  "  I  consider  family  of  vastly  more  im- 
portance." 

To  vary  from  a  line  of  discussion  which  was  not 
uncommon,  Bainbridge  next  told  in  an  easy  way,  as 
of  an  indifferent  person  whom  she  would  never  be 
likely  to  see,  of  the  visit  of  Ottilie  to  the  store,  and 
of  the  interview  at  which  he  had  been  unwillingly 
obliged  to  be  present. 

"  Is  she  pretty  ?  You  men  always  ask  that.  Noth- 
ing less  will  serve  you." 

"  Oh,  she  is  pretty  enough.  I  should  not  call  that 
kind  of  looks  particularly  imposing.  It  all  depends 
on  the  character  and  manners.     I  should  think  she 


44  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

might  have  rather  nice  manners  when  not  too  much 
out  of  temper. 

"  Since  she  is  so  very  fine,  I  should  think  her  uncle 
would  treat  her  better ;  perhaps  do  something  for 
her.  But  he  is  a  hard,  disagreeable  man,  as  I  have 
heard.  I  doubt  if  he  ever  did  anybody  a  good  turn 
in  his  life." 

"  I  have  come  to  have  a  considerable  regard  for 
anybody  who  does  not  do  you  a  bad  turn." 

"  Oh,  yes !  you  stand  by  him.  I  dare  say  you  hope, 
in  time,  to  become  his  principal  attorney." 

"  Perhaps  that  might  be  a  good  enough  reason,  if 
it  were  so.  But  I  hope  I  am  candid  enough  to  judge 
of  people  somewhat  apart  from  their  relations  to  me. 
I  should  say  that  affection  was  not  Rodman  Harvey's 
strong  point ;  but  that  he  was  a  very  regular  and  up- 
right person  in  his  dealings.  I  should  say  that  he 
would  cherish  a  high  ideal  of  commercial  integrity, 
if  only  for  the  neatness  and  symmetry  of  it." 

Later  on  the  same  name  chanced  to  be  under  dis- 
cussion in  another  group.  Miss  Rawson  called  to 
Bainbridge  vivaciously,  — 

"  Au  secours !  Your  beloved  Harveys  are  in 
danger." 

Mrs.  Clef  was  dissertating  in  her  candid  way  on 
an  engagement,  not  long  since  made  public,  between 
Angelica,  the  daughter  of  Rodman  Harvey,  and  an 
extremely  well-connected,  though,  according  to  her, 
stupid  young  man,  Austin  Sprowle.  Sprowle  had 
been  at  one  time  a  secretary  of  legation  at  Paris. 

"  They  say  they  were  engaged,  or  at  least  that 
there  was  an  understanding  between  them,  for  somo 
time  before  it  was  formally  announced,"  said  musical 
Mrs.  Clef.     Some  of  the  girls  were  rather  ridiculing 


AT    MUSICAL   MRS.    CLEF*S.  45 

Lis  appearance,  at  Mrs.  Bloomfield's  kettle-drum,  and 
Angelica  Harvey  all  at  once  broke  out,  '  He  is  of  the 
very  finest  family  in  America,  and  —  I  am  engaged 
to  him  !  '  She  happened  to  be  in  one  of  her  domi- 
neering moods,  I  suppose,  that  day.  They  say  it  was 
positively  dreadful,  the  way  her  eyes  flashed !  How- 
ever, that  does  not  prevent  her  flirting  with  other 
men  I  see,  and  notably  with  that  young  Kingbolt  of 
Kingboltsville.  The  match  was  made  by  the  two 
mothers,  at  Pau.  Family  is  Mrs.  Harvey's  hobby. 
Having  married  as  she  did,  she  thinks  that  that  is 
the  direction  in  which  they  chiefly  need  strengthen- 
ing.    Her  daughter  shares  the  taste." 

"  I  suppose  the  Sprowles  are  expecting  something 
very  handsome  in  the  way  of  dowry  from  Rodman 
Harvey,''  said  a  divorced  Mrs.  Whipple,  "  but  I  should 
be  inclined  to  think,  with  this  fancy  of  his  for  piling 
up  the  largest  sum  possible  for  his  eldest  son,  they 
might  be  disappointed." 

"  The  Sprowles  are  far  from  poor,  of  course,"  re- 
turned Airs.  Clef,  "  but  people  who  have  so  many 
generations  behind  them  unconnected  with  trade  can- 
not expect  to  compete  with  the  vulgar  modern  style 
of  fortune.  Young  Sprowle  is  not,  in  fact,  fine-look- 
ing," she  continued.  u  One  always  has  to  think  of 
the  knobs  ©f  his  body.  His  feet  stick  out  at  an  awk- 
ward angle,  and  he  has  one  of  those  large,  gourd- 
shaped  heads  with  nothing  in  them  which  ought  to 
be  the  despair  of  the  phrenologists.  It  looks  topply ; 
his  neck  is  so  slender.  He  never  said  a  good  thing 
in  his  life.  I  wonder  how  she  puts  up  with  him, 
she  who  is  so  ready  with  her  tongue  ;  though  she  is 
a  vixen  of  a  girl,  too,  and  he  has  no  great  treasure  in 
her  either." 


46  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

"  As  to  his  doing  anybody  a  bad  turn,"  said  Miss 
Rawson,  returning  to  the  subject  of  Rodman  Harvey, 
"  you  know  how  excessively  disagreeable  he  has  been 
to  our  friends,  the  Hasbroucks,  about  their  prop- 
erty." 

"  The  newly  arrived  niece  would  agree  with  you. 
She  took  an  early  occasion  to  mention  it." 

Mrs.  Hasbrouck  has  been  here  lately  on  a  visit, 
from  Baltimore.  She  thinks  of  taking  a  house  or 
flat,  in  the  spring,  so  as  to  be  near  her  children." 

44  Why  did  you  not  tell  me  before  ?  I  should  have 
liked  to  go  and  see  her." 

"  How  can  I  tell  you  anything  when  you  never 
come  near  me  ?  " 


IV. 

A  SUNDAY  ON  THE  AVENUE. 

The  high  board  fence  which  had  so  long  obscured 
the  works  in  progress  on  the  new  mansion  of  Rod- 
man Harvey  was  at  length  removed.  On  the  day 
following,  which  was  a  Sunday,  the  fact  became  one 
of  general  notoriety. 

Upon  the  letting  out  of  the  churches,  at  noon, 
there  streams  along  Fifth  Avenue  —  chief  thorough- 
fare of  the  elegant  quarter  of  brown  stone  and  plate- 
glass  inhabited  by  the  wealth  and  fashion  of  the  city 
—  a  procession  unique  of  its  kind.  In  the  charming 
early  spring  days  after  the  severities  of  the  winter, 
it  becomes  swollen  to  its  fullest  dimensions.  Then 
even  very  exclusive  people,  who  properly  consider 
a  promenade  so  open  to  all  the  world  as  beneath 
their  usual  countenance,  are  often  wooed  to  take 
part.  The  Sunday  in  question  was  not  only  in  the 
genial  springtime,  but  it  was  Easter,  the  great  fes- 
tival of  the  Christian  year,  and  a  recognized  occasion 
besides  for  the  display  of  new  feminine  fashions. 

Now  that  the  fence  was  down  the  new  house  of 
Rodman  Harvey,  at  the  corner  of  West  Blank  Street, 
was  seen  not  to  differ  greatly,  except  in  size,  from 
others  in  the  neighborhood.  It  was  of  brown  or 
red  sandstone,  fifty  or  sixty  feet  in  front,  and  perhaps 
two  hundred,  with  its  various  appurtenances,  down 
the  side  street.     It  had  three  liberal  stories,  and  a 


48  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

mansard,  topped  with  a  gilded  railing.  A  row  of 
classic  window  heads  in  its  first  story  were  of  curved 
form,  those  in  the  second  triangular,  and  in  the  third 
straight.  A  stone  balustrade  inclosed  a  low  "  area" 
in  front,  and  the  basement  windows  were  protected 
by  gratings  with  gilded  spear-heads. 

A  broad  flight  of  steps,  curving  hospitably  out- 
wards, led  to  a  porch  with  a  couple  of  Corinthian 
columns.  Within  this  were  heavily  carven  doors,  a 
paved  vestibule,  and  lighter  doors,  with  stained  glass 
panels.  The  long  stretch  on  the  side  street  was  bro- 
ken up  by  a  bay  window  reaching  through  the  sev- 
eral stories.  Then  an  expanse,  relieved  by  panels, 
with  a  sky-light  above,  indicated  a  picture-gallery. 
Next  to  this  a  brick  wall,  higher  than  a  man's  head, 
extended  to  two  tall  posts,  topped  with  stone  balls, 
—  the  gateway  to  low  brick  stable  buildings. 

The  passers-by,  who  had  long  been  alarmed  by 
blasting,  and  made  to  walk  the  plank  over  yawning 
chasms,  hailed  with  relief  the  end  of  their  disquiet- 
udes. The  sudden  disappearance,  too,  of  the  high 
fence,  blazoned  with  its  advertisements,  was  almost 
as  striking  as  had  been  its  first  initiation.  It  had 
blazoned  in  the  most  florid  style  of  art,  complexion 
renovators,  velocipedes,  the  winter  route  to  Florida, 
and  the  "Evening  Meteor,"  which,  it  is  well  known, 
has  a  larger  circulation  than  all  of  its  contempora- 
ries put  together. 

It  had  blazoned,  also,  the  attractive  investment 
system  of  the  "  Prudential  Land  and  Loan  Com- 
pany," which  combined  the  savings  of  many  to  the 
advantage  of  all.  "  For  prospectus  address  the  man- 
agement, Fletcher,  St.  Hill  &  Co.,  in  the  Magoon 
Building,  lower  Broadway." 


A   SUNDAY    ON    THE   AVENUE.  49 

Whatever  matters  formed  the  topic  of  discourse 
elsewhere,  at  the  corner  of  West  Blank  Street  and 
the  Avenue  it  was  surely  Rodman  Harvey,  just  as 
the  same  light  cloud  always  hovers  about  a  tall 
mountain  peak,  though  the  particles  of  which  it  is 
actually  composed  are  flying  past  at  the  rate  of  sixty 
miles  an  hour.  Such  as  knew  him  little  were  now 
glad  to  learn  more  ;  and  those  who  knew  him  better 
were  glad  to  tell  all  they  knew.  One  could  have  ob- 
tained a  very  tolerable  idea  of  the  aims  and  history 
of  the  merchant  prince  by  no  more  than  lingering 
awhile,  and  paying  heed,  in  front  of  the  mansion  he 
had  reared. 

Aureolin  Slab  and  the  young  architect,  G.  Lloyd, 
went  by,  and  stopped  and  looked  up,  and  regretted 
that  what  they  saw  should  be  in  none  of  the  new, 
artistic  styles,  but  simply  a  great  nondescript  monu- 
ment to  a  wasted  opportunity. 

"  He  was  of  mere  farmer  origin,  of  course,"  the 
severely  aristocratic,  Roman-nosed  dowager,  Airs. 
Sprowle,  was  saying  to  her  stalwart  kinsman, 
Sprowle-Onderdonk,  who  walked  with  her  a  little, 
on  his  way  to  his  breakfast  at  the  Empire  Club ; 
"but  I  must  say  he  has  conducted  himself  in  quite 
a  praiseworthy  manner.  His  first  wife  was  one  of 
his  own  sort,  —  a  wise  Puritan  virgin,  who  knitted 
stockings,  sang  psalms,  and  quoted  Cobbett  and  Poor 
Richard.  But  the  present  Mrs.  Harvey  is  one  of 
the  old  Muffetts,  and  all  that  could  be  desired,  from 
that  point  of  view.  Her  first  husband  was  thrown 
from  his  carriage  and  killed,  early  in  their  marriage. 
He  left  her  little,  and  her  own  family,  who  had  the 
habit  of  spending  everything,  could  not  add  much  to 
it.     She  inherited  the  Muffett  place,  however,  which 


50  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

Harvey  built  up  into  blocks  of  houses.  She  lived  in 
it  when  she  first  met  him.  I  dare  say  she  was  hav- 
ing a  stupid  time.  I  remember  that  it  was  thought 
quite  a  piece  of  presumption,  his  aspiring  so  high,  as 
he  was  not  as  rich  as  he  is  now,  and  nobody  had  ever 
heard  of  him  socially.  However,  as  I  have  said,  he 
has  certainly  used  his  money  in  a  very  commendable 
way.  I  have  no  adverse  criticism  to  make  either 
upon  him  or  his  daughter.  Your  cousin  Austin,  my 
son,  seems  very  happy  in  his  choice  of  her  for  a  wife, 
and,  as  you  know,  I  have  not  withheld  my  consent." 

Dr.  Wyburd  —  diner-out,  dabbler  in  literary  and 
scientific  matters  in  addition  to  the  medical  profes- 
sion, depositary  of  universal  information  —  spoke  of 
the  beginnings  of  Rodman  Harvey's  fortune.  "  He 
made  most  of  it  during  and  after  the  War  of  the 
Rebellion,"  he  said.  "  Previous  to  that  he  had  ca- 
tered largely  for  the  Southern  trade.  His  credits 
were  extended  over  the  South  at  the  breaking  out  of 
hostilities,  and  his  losses  were  heavy.  The  Southern 
merchants  continued,  and  even  increased  their  trade 
with  him,  when  they  had  withdrawn  it  from  others 
of  more  radical  opinions.  That  was  all  verjr  well  for 
the  time,  but  when  secession  came  and  debts  were 
repudiated,  it  was  quite  another  story.  He  was  lucky, 
I  fancy,  to  pull  through  that  scrape." 

The  dashing  Cutler  and  steady-going  Whittemore, 
of  the  merchants'  clerks,  went  by  in  their  turn. 

"  The  old  man  is  a  fearful  obstinate  person,  when 
he  once  starts  in,"  said  Whittemore.  "  They  tell  of 
a  bank  at  Bridgehaven,  when  he  was  in  business  there 
in  a  small  way,  which  refused  him  some  accommoda- 
tion. He  went  to  work  and  bought  up  its  bills,  and 
presented  the  whole  issue  for  redemption.     The  offi- 


A   SUNDAY   ON   THE   AVENUE.  51 

cers  apologized  humbly,  and  begged  him  not  to  wind 
up  the  concern,  but  he  went  on  and  did  it." 

"  What  I  like,"  said  Cutler,  "is  to  get  him  on  the 
subject  of  the  economies  he  used  to  practice  in  those 
times.  He  lets  us  have  them  occasionally  as  a  re- 
ward of  merit,  when  he  comes  around  in  his  snoop- 
ing way  and  finds  everything  all  right,  instead  of 
skylarking  going  on.  This  thing  of  getting  a  cap- 
ital together  by  walking  to  save  your  car-fare,  never 
taking  a  drink  or  a  day  off,  cannot  be  done  now- 
adays. Trade  is  too  large.  Look  at  our  place  !  — 
a  hundred  and  twenty  employees,  sales  of  ten  and 
fifteen  millions  a  year.  It  takes  a  good  many  car- 
fares to  equal  that,  eh  ?  The  retail  trade  is  worse, 
if  anything.  The  big  concerns  eat  up  the  little  ones. 
It  is  no  time  for  small  fry." 

"  But  a  man  would  expect  to  go  into  the  country, 
somewhere,  to  begin,"  said  Whittemore. 

"  No  country  for  me  !  none  of  that  in  mine  !  I  stay 
here.  Where  will  you  find  anything  like  this  in  the 
country  ?  " 

Two  slow  divisions  passed  each  other,  one  up,  one 
clown  the  sidewalk,  almost  touching  shoulder  to  shoul- 
der. The  individuals  composing  them  gazed  into  one 
another's  faces,  nonchalantly,  amiably,  haughtily,  im- 
pertinently, admiringly,  distrustfully,  according  to  the 
mood  and  character  of  each.  There  were  modish 
young  women  and  young  men  without  end  ;  old 
beaux,  gray,  experienced,  and  distinguished-looking  ; 
stately  matrons;  children  in  plushes  and  velvets,  like 
young  princes  of  Vandyke.  A  sweet-faced  girl,  af- 
flicted with  lameness  and  walking  with  a  rose-wood 
crutch,  aroused  a  kind  of  pathetic  interest.  Mourn- 
ers lately  from  the  cemeteries,  seemed  yet  to  carry  in 


52  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

their  garments  airs  from  the  laurel  and  cypress  dells 
where  they  had  laid  their  dead.  At  one  point  a 
tramp,  his  torn  clothing  held  by  a  girdle  of  rope, 
crossed  from  a  side-street,  like  a  wild  beast  from  its 
jungle,  and  gave  the  whole  concourse  a  momentary 
check. 

The  first  parasols  were  out.  Some  of  these  were 
in  pure  crimson  ;  others  —  such  was  a  fashion  of  the 
time  —  in  concentric  rings,  black,  scarlet,  and  gold, 
like  targets  for  archery  practice.  Bluish  shadows 
streamed  from  the  figures  along  the  pavement.  The 
sunshine,  filtered  through  a  slight  haze,  arising  from 
the  burning  of  stubble  in  the  country,  had  a  qual- 
ity like  a  mysterious  smile.  The  first  leafage  flick- 
ered on  the  willows  and  maples  in  the  squares  like 
a  tender  yellowish  flame.  The  generative  feeling 
of  the  time  was  in  the  air.  Small  housewives  planned 
to  buy  of  the  dealers,  who  would  come  about  in  their 
wagons,  pots  of  geraniums,  and  sods  of  grass  for  the 
little  city  door-yards,  tramped  out  by  the  serving- 
maids  in  the  winter. 

"  For  my  part,"  Mr.  Cutler  went  on.  "  I  shall  not 
stick  to  dry  goods  any  longer  than  I  can  help.  Look 
at  McKinley  !  He  has  drawn  the  same  salary  for  the 
last  fifteen  years,  and  he  will  go  on  drawing  that  and 
no  more  if  he  lives  to  the  age  of  Methuselah.  I  was 
down  to  see  a  Mr.  St.  Hill  the  other  day  at  this  new 
Prudential  Land  and  Loan  Company.  He  offered  me 
a  place  if  I  only  had  a  little  money  to  put  up  as  a  guar- 
anty. I  have  got  to  get  into  something  pretty  soon. 
I  don't  mind  telling  you  that  I  shall  probably  marry 
Miss  Speller,  and  then  there  will  be  two  of  us." 

Whittemore  thought  it  odd  that  Cutler,  who  so  in- 
sisted upon  worldly  wisdom,  should  be  going  to  marry 


A   SUNDAY    ON    THE   AVENUE.  53 

the  quite  impecunious  public-school  teacher,  Miss 
Speller.  But  she  was  very  pretty,  and  no  doubt,  like 
other  would-be  prudent  men,  he  had  yielded  to  fas- 
cinations which  he  had  not  properly  estimated. 

The  sweet  air  seemed  yet  full  of  the  chime  of  bells, 
the  notes  of  organ,  harp,  and  viol,  and  of  the  clear 
voices  which  had  been  singing  anthems  ;  and  it  was 
yet  perfumed  with  the  scent  of  all  the  lilies  and  roses 
clustered  around  the  fonts  and  chancel  rails. 

The  Resurrection  had  naturally  been  the  theme 
in  most  of  the  pulpits  under  the  line  of  steeples  fol- 
lowing one  another  interminably  down  the  Avenue. 
But  Mr.  Haggerson  had  managed  to  combine  with  it 
the  fourth  in  his  series  to  young  men.  The  Rev.  Mr. 
Goswin  found  means  to  attack  Romanism,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Telfair  to  demonstrate  the  absurdity  of  suppos- 
ing a  connection  between  ideas  of  supernaturalism 
and  morality.  Mr.  Dillman  had  drawn  the  lessons 
of  the  City  of  Trebizond  disaster.  The  Rev.  Air. 
Gambit  had  taken  up  the  parable  of  the  barren  fig- 
tree,  dividing  his  subject  into  three  heads.  The  Rev. 
Mr.  Bashan  had  utilized  the  blowing  down  of  the 
w?alls  of  Jericho  by  the  ram's-horn  trumpets.  How 
simple,  how  apparently  contemptible,  were  the 
means  ;  yet  how,  at  the  fated  hour  and  the  final  note, 
the  walls  of  the  wTicked,  derisive  city  had  crumbled 
to  inevitable  ruin.  An  analogy,  he  thought,  to  this 
might  be  found  in  the  terrible  force  of  public  opinion 
upon  a  reputation  falsely  enjoyed,  and  undermined  by 
consciousness  of  it. 

The  pastor  of  Rodman  Harvey,  the  polished  Dr. 
Miltimore,  hewed  down  no  barren  fig-trees,  and  blew 
no   rams'   horns   of  judgment.     He   softened  the  as- 


54  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

perities  of  theology.  He  had  a  scholarly  air,  as  of  a 
person  delivering  addresses  before  a  historical  society. 
He  devoted  himself  somewhat  to  reconciling  a  sup- 
posed inconsistency  between  the  temporal  and  spir- 
itual welfare.  Rodman  Harvey  had  had  one  of  his 
sermons  put  in  pamphlet  form,  and  kept  copies  of  it 
by  him,  which  he  sometimes  presented  to  new  ac- 
quaintances, saying,  "  My  good  minister  preached  a 
sermon  the  other  day  which  pleased  me  so  well  that 
I  had  it  printed ;  "  and  this  by  no  means  did  his 
business  relations  harm.  Watervliet,  the  club  wit, 
was  in  the  habit  of  complimenting  the  gentlemanly 
tone  of  things  at  Dr.  Miltimore's. 

"  He  never  touches  on  politics,  —  or  religion," 
said  Watervliet.  "  He  offends  the  susceptibilties  of 
no  man." 

Should  Dr.  Miltimore,  then,  have  harrowed  up  the 
feelings  of  his  parishioners,  on  their  sole  day  of  rest  ? 
Wh}T,  the  responsibilities  of  Rodman  Harvey  alone, 
sitting  there  with  his  family  around  him  in  his  crim- 
son-lined, oaken  pew,  were  something  incredible.  He 
was  a  stockholder  and  director  in  the  Antarctic,  Cos- 
mopolitan, and  Union  banks,  the  Alien-Mutual  and 
Planet  insurance  companies,  the  Western  Mail  line  of 
steamers,  the  Devious  Air- Line,  Rio  Bravo  and  Wil- 
lamette, Onalaska,  and  Maumee  Central  railways, 
the  Vulcan  Rolling  Mills,  Franklin  Telegraph,  Me- 
tropolis Gas,  and  Featherstone  Hay-Scale  compa- 
nies ;  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  the  Union  League 
Club,  the  Academy  of  Music,  the  Historical,  Agri- 
cultural, St.  Nicholas,  and  New  England  societies. 
He  was  treasurer  and  first  director  of  that  excellent 
society  for  the  purification  of  municipal  politics,  the 
Civic  Reform  Association.     And  even  these,  with  his 


A   SUNDAY   ON   THE   AVENUE.  55 

mines ;  his  great  business  house,  involving  the  calcu- 
lation of  effects  of  climate,  seasons,  and  changing  po- 
litical conditions  on  goods  purchased  in  distant  lands, 
to  be  sold  at  distances  as  remote ;  his  family ;  and 
the  supervision  of  his  new  mansion,  were  but  a  tithe 
of  the  burdens  which  called  for  the  extension  to  him 
of  a  more  than  ordinary  freedom  from  other  annoy- 
ance. 

Rodman  Harvey  issued  from  the  porch  of  Dr. 
Miltimore's  church,  accompanied  by  his  wife,  his 
younger  son,  Rodman,  Jr.,  and  his  younger  daugh- 
ter, Calista,  a  tall  girl  of  ten,  with  dull,  blue  eyes,  a 
profusion  of  yellow  hair,  and  a  languid,  complaining 
way  of  speaking.  The  younger  son  wore  the  uni- 
form of  a  military  school,  from  which  he  had  lately 
been  dismissed,  —  a  circumstance  which  seemed  by  no 
means  to  weigh  heavily  on  his  spirits. 

A  handsome  landau,  with  the  front  half  let  down, 
awaited  the  family.  There  were  two  men  in  livery 
on  the  box ;  the  strong,  dark  horses  had  brass- 
mounted  harness  and  small  blankets  of  dark  green, 
embroidered  with  monograms,  under  their  saddles. 
The  footman,  Alphonse,  called  the  attention  of  the 
coachman,  Joseph,  who  was  gossiping  with  the  coach- 
man of  General  Burlington,  although  there  was  a 
coolness  between  their  masters,  —  and  the  landau 
promptly  drew  up  to  the  curbstone. 

"  Let  us  walk,  mamma ;  I  am  so  tired  of  riding," 
pleaded  Calista. 

Quite  unexceptionable  people  were  going  by. 
"  Very  well,"  said  Mrs.  Harvey,  putting  up  a  little 
parasol  above  a  plump  face  retaining  a  certain  mid- 
dle-aged prettiness.      "  Joseph,  nous  allons  nous  pro- 


56  THE   HOUSE   OF   A  MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

mener  jusqu'a  la  nouvelle  maison.  Attendez  nous 
la!" 

"  Parfaitement  madame,"  replied  the  careful  Swiss 
Joseph. 

One  of  his  merits  was  that  foreign  languages  could 
be  practiced  with  him.  He  drove  decorously  before 
to  the  new  house,  and  there  took  up  the  family  and 
conveyed  them  to  the  Bayswater  Hotel. 

The  elder  son,  Selkirk,  was  not  present  at  the  ser- 
vice. He  passed  his  Sunday  mornings  over  Herbert 
Spencer,  or  in  arranging  his  books,  or  he  called  upon 
one  Aureolin  Slab,  to  whom  he  exhibited  new  ac- 
quisitions in  Banko  and  old  Kiyoto  wares. 

Nor  was  the  brilliant  elder  daughter,  Angelica, 
present.  She  found  Saint  Barnabas'  better  adapted 
to  her  spiritual  needs.  She  had  no  great  fancy  for 
historical  society  discourses.  The  service  at  Saint 
Barnabas'  was  more  like  what  one  was  used  to  abroad. 
She  would  have  liked  to  walk  down  an  aisle  with  a 
footman  behind  her  carrying  prayer-books,  as  is  done 
in  England,  but  had  hesitated  as  yet  to  put  this  in- 
novation in  practice.  At  Dr.  Miltimore's,  at  any 
rate,  there  were  not  even  prayer-books  to  carry. 

While  her  family  were  being  driven  to  their  hotel, 
Angelica  Harvey  was  walking  up  from  Saint  Bar- 
nabas', attended  by  two  young  men,  one  on  either 
hand,  engaged  with  them  in  lively  talk.  These  were 
recognized  by  the  set  which  knew  them,  as  Austin 
Sprowle,  her  affianced  husband  ;  and  Arthur  Kingbolt, 
heir  to  that  great  property,  the  Eureka  Tool  Works 
of  Kingboltsville,  Connecticut. 


V. 

A  MAN  OF  FASHION  DRIVES  OUT  A  FRIEND. 

Young  Kingbolt,  of  Kingboltsville,  had  the  fancy- 
that  morning  to  take  a  turn  up  the  road  in  his  dog- 
cart. He  had  invited  to  a  seat  beside  him  his  friend, 
and  protege,  though  a  man  much  older  than  himself, 
—  Mr.  St.  Hill,  the  manager  of  the  new  Prudential 
Land  and  Loan  Company. 

A  large,  high-stepping  gray  horse,  with  a  quantity 
of  silver  chains  rattling  about  his  harness,  drew  along 
the  box-like  vehicle,  with  a  light  rocking  motion  on 
its  single  axle.  The  master  of  this  conveyance,  half 
standing,  half  sitting  against  its  high  cushioned  seat, 
with  one  hand  well  forward,  the  other  near  the  breast 
of  his  snug  frock  coat,  with  its  bunch  of  violets  at 
the  lapel,  was  as  fine  a  picture  of  supercilious  young 
patrician dom  as  one  would  wish  to  see.  He  was  of 
a  type  not  uncommon  in  the  well-looking  American 
race.  Almost  any  change  in  it  must  be  for  the 
worse,  and  he  might  not  grow  old  as  gracefully  as 
some  others  of  a  lesser  perfection  of  features.  His 
expression  denoted  petulance  and  self-will.  There 
was  something  terrier-like  (of  the  best  breed,  be  it 
understood)  in  the  trimness  of  his  cut,  —  his  small 
ears,  his  close-cropped  hair  polished  with  brushing, 
his  slight,  dark  moustache,  and  his  glistening  white 
teeth. 

While  this  one  was  perhaps  twenty-six,  his  com- 


58  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

panion  must  have  been  forty.  He  was  a  much  stouter 
man,  blonde,  with  a  round,  red  face,  above  which  he 
wore  a  hat  of  the  smallest  size  permitted  by  the 
ruling  mode.     He  had  a  glass  in  one  eye. 

The  contribution  of  these  two  to  the  prevailing  dis- 
cussion of  the  merchant  prince  was  of  a  somewhat  un- 
usual character. 

"  I  am  thinking  of  giving  him  a  twist  some  of 
these  days,"  said  Mr.  St.  Hill. 

"  Giving  him  a  twist  ?  " 

"  Yes,  if  a  man  won't  pay  you  what  he  owes  you  in 
one  way,  I  suppose  you  have  a  right  to  make  him,  in 
another.  I  have  a  lot  of  his  letters,  which  he  would 
not  be  at  all  anxious  to  have  see  daylight,  especially 
about  these  times,  when  he  begins  to  have  political 
aspirations.  I  think  I  shall  have  to  crowd  Rodman 
Harvey  for  about  twelve  thousand  dollars." 

"  He  ought  to  be  good  for  anything  against  him  in 
the  regular  way.  If  you  have  a  claim,  why  do  you 
not  put  it  into  the  hands  of  a  lawyer  ?  " 

"  Oh,  this  is  an  old  matter,  and  barred  long  since 
by  the  statute  of  limitations.  He  owed  my  father 
for  cotton  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war.  When  we  ap- 
plied for  payment,  after  it  was  over,  he  refused  in 
the  most  abusive  terms.  He  said  he  had  lost  enough 
by  the  South  already,  and  we  might  see  how  we  liked 
it  ourselves.  At  the  same  time,  he  was  remorselessly 
following  up  those  who  owed  him  there,  even  though 
they  had  hardly  a  cent  to  bless  themselves  with." 

"  But  you  could  have  made  him  pay  you  then,  you 
know ;  the  five  years'  limitation  was  not  out." 

"  It  was  pretty  nearly  out.  Both  my  father  and 
myself  had  had  the  misfortune  to  be  rather  actively 
engaged  in  what  you  call  here  the  "  rebel  "  cause, 


A   MAN   OF   FASHION   DRIVES   OUT   A   FRIEND.         59 

and  thought  it  advisable  to  go  for  a  time  to  Europe, 
finally  to  Egypt.  We  did  not  quite  understand  what 
our  rights  were.  When  we  did  it  was  too  late.  I 
wrote  to  Harvey  from  London,  and  it  was  then  that 
he  sent  the  response  I  have  told  you  of.  I  did  not 
have  his  letters  then,  nor  have  I  had  them,  till  within 
a  few  days  past,  or  I  should  have  given  him  a  turn 
before." 

"  And  these  letters,  what  are  they  ?  " 

"  Well,  they  show  him  up,  you  know,  on  the  slav- 
ery question.  He  used  to  take  niggers  on  chattel 
mortgage  for  goods,  or  own  them  outright,  and  hire 
them  to  the  plantations.  We  had  some  of  them  on 
a  place  of  ours  up  the  Ashley  River.  He  and  my 
father  used  to  be  very  thick  at  one  time,  and  carried 
on  an  intimate  correspondence.  The  letters  turned 
up  only  the  other  day,  at  the  plantation  on  the  Ash- 
ley, after  having  been  lost  for  years.  The  place  was 
racketed  to  pieces,  by  troops  on  both  sides,  during 
the  war,  and  has  been  in  the  hands  of  the  Jews  ever 
since.  The  papers  were  picked  out  of  a  barrel,  with 
some  other  traps,  by  an  old  overseer  of  mine,  who 
sent  them  up  here  to  me  to  see  if  they  might  be  of 
interest." 

"  Now,  see  here !  I  've  been  a  friend  of  yours, 
have  n't  I  ?  "  began  Kingbolt,  when  the  scheme  for 
obtaining  payment  from  Rodman  Harvey  had  been 
well  laid  before  him.  "  I  don't  say  anything  about 
what  I  dui  for  you  in  Europe.  You  were  rather 
down  on  your  luck,  and  I  got  you  over  here  and  put 
you  into  the  Empire  Club,  and  gave  you  a  send-off 
in  some  good  houses.  Old  Mrs.  Sprowle  was  crack- 
ing you  up  only  the  other  day  on  the  score  of  family. 
And  now  you  have  a  big  financial  company  in  which 


60  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

you  think  there  is  a  mint  of  money.  And  you  have 
some  of  my  money  in  it,  too,  have  n't  you  ?  Very 
well !  Now  what  I  say  about  this  bluff  game  is,  Let 
it  alone  !     Drop  it !     See  ?  " 

Perhaps  the  superior  age  of  the  protege  added  zest 
to  the  domineering  air  assumed  by  his  young  patron. 

"  You  don't  want  to  stir  up  anything  of  that  kind," 
he  continued.  "  Your  role  is  to  go  on  and  make  as 
many  persons  as  possible  favorable  to  your  new  en- 
terprise. You  asked  nie,  when  you  first  came  here, 
what  kind  of  a  reception  you  were  likely  to  meet 
with,  on  account  of  having  been  on  the  other  side 
during  the  war.  I  told  you  that  New  York  was  too 
big  and  bustling  a  place  to  devote  much  time  to  by- 
gones. I  said  it  might  make  you  a  bit  of  a  curiosity, 
and  be  a  point  in  your  favor,  and  so  it  has.  But 
now,  if  you  go  to  raking  up  those  dead  and  buried 
issues  that  people  had  rather  forget,  if  you  go  to  at- 
tacking one  of  the  few  men  who  has  not  forgotten, 
but  for  some  reason  or  other  keeps  up  a  peculiar 
grudge  about  it,  it  will  not  be  to  your  advantage 
with  the  community.  And  as  to  getting  money  from 
Rodman  Harvey,  you  may  dismiss  that  idea  at  once. 
You  would  come  out  second  best.  Besides,  I  don't 
see  that" it  would  be  right." 

This  was  rather  an  unusual  display  of  morality  in 
one  who  was  not  known  for  squeamishness,  but  was 
rather  known  for  a  readiness  in  putting  things  at 
cross-purposes,  if  only  for  the  sake  of  the  jsport.  St. 
Hill  cogitated  whether  there  were  not  some  hidden 
motive  inclining  his  friend  in  Harvey's  favor. 

At  this  moment  Rodman  Harvey's  beautiful  daugh- 
ter went  by,  with  Sprowle,  to  whom  she  was  en- 
gaged.     Kingbolt  acknowledged  her  bow  from  the 


A   MAN   OF   FASHION  DRIVES   OUT    A   FRIEND.         61 

sidewalk  with  effusion,  and  glanced  back  after  her 
when  she  had  passed. 

"  It  is  too  good  a  thing  to  give  up.  It  is  too  much 
money  to  forego,"  persisted  St.  Hill,  in  his  argu- 
ment. 

"  You  '11  have  to  choose  between  him  and  me, 
then,"  said  Kingbolt  sharply.  "  See  here  !  I  think 
I  '11  get  down.  You  can  take  the  trap  up  by  yourself. 
I  believe  I  won't  ride  to-day." 

St.  Hill  saw  him  go  back  and  join  Angelica  Har- 
vey. A  sudden  theory  flashed  into  his  mind  as  a 
solution  of  his  meditations.  He  put  together  eulo- 
gies he  had  heard  paid  by  Kingbolt  to  the  beauty  and 
style  of  this  girl,  with  attentions  he  had  witnessed, 
engaged  though  she  was,  and  securely  fixed  in  her 
choice  by  her  own  wishes,  the  plans  of  two  prom- 
inent families,  and  the  respect  due  the  usages  of  so- 
ciety. 

"  Oho  !  is  that  it  ?  "  he  said  to  himself.  "  He  is  a 
little  gone  on  the  young  woman,  and  so  takes  the 
family  under  his  protection.  It  is  like  one  of  his 
whims.  Well,  we  must  wait  a  little  for  the  wind  to 
blow  round.  It  can't  sit  long  in  that  quarter.  The 
prospect  is  altogether  too  slim,  even  for  him." 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  Mr.  St.  Hill  was 
considerably  disappointed.  He  had  not  even  arrived 
at  the  subject  of  a  small  loan  he  had  intended  to  pro- 
pose, on  the  basis  of  the  profits  to  be  derived  from 
Harvey.  And  further  than  this,  an  interdict  had 
been  laid  on  his  scheme  itself,  which  he  could  not 
disregard  without  the  loss  of  a  friendship  from  which 
he  expected  many  substantial  favors  in  the  future,  as 
he  had  received  them  in  the  past.  But  he  had  occa- 
sion to  know  something  of  his  friend's  vacillation  of 


62  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

purpose.  He  was  encouraged  to  believe  that  in  a 
brief  period  Kingbolt  would  have  forgotten  Harvey 
and  his  daughter,  even  to  the  bare  fact  of  their  exist- 
ence, and  that  he  could  then  proceed  again  with  his 
design,  for  the  present  postponed. 

There  was  not  a  group  on  the  Avenue  that  drew 
more  admiring  attention  than  the  trio  consisting  of 
Miss  Angelica  Harvey  and  her  two  cavaliers.  Not 
that  the  one  to  the  right,  her  accepted  suitor,  was  a 
model  of  perfection  in  looks.  He  had,  indeed,  some- 
thing of  the  aspect  pictured  by  Mrs.  Clef  in  her 
lively  description.  On  the  other  hand,  there  was 
hardly  any  mistaking  his  air  of  fashion,  and  of  mem- 
bership in  a  certain  circle.  He  affected  a  choice 
elegance  in  costume.  All  of  it,  down  to  his  gaiters, 
was  black.  He  wore  a  weed  on  his  hat.  He  carried 
his  arms  at  an  artificial  angle,  and  balanced  a  small 
stick  between  a  thumb  and  finger.  "  Commonness  " 
was  understood  to  be  the  chief  avoidance  of  Austin 
Sprowle.  When  under-secretary  of  legation  at  Paris, 
he  was  said  to  have  spoken  of  a  number  of  ministers 
who  came  and  went  above  him  in  turn,  as  "  common." 

But  the  one  on  her  left  was  a  very  handsome  young 
man.  And  then  the  young  woman  herself !  She 
had  fine,  large,  dark  eyes,  which  she  rolled  about  vi- 
vaciously as  she  talked.  She  had  a  small  dimple  in 
her  cheek,  and  a  smile  which,  in  showing  her  fine 
teeth  to  the  best  advantage,  caused  some  little  wrin- 
kles to  appear  around  her  quite  enchanting  nose. 

Her  costume  was  of  some  drab  or  pale  yellowish 
cloth,  which  fitted  almost  as  closely  as  her  skin.  Two 
distinct  triangles  of  daylight  appeared  between  her 
arms  and  the  contours  of  her  shapely  waist.  Iler 
skirts  waved  off   the  hips,  first  this  way  and    then 


A  MAN   OF   FASHION   DRIVES   OUT   A    FRIEND.  63 

that,  in  the  undulations  of  a  walk  which  was  divided 
into  syllables,  as  it  were,  like  her  name.  At  her 
breast  was  a  nosegay  of  yellow  flowers.  Kingbolt 
always  noticed  in  her  some  subtle  touch  of  distinc- 
tion from  the  crowd.  Yellow  flowers,  now  ?  It  was  a 
small  thing,  but  nobody  else  yet  wore  yellow  flowers. 
And  be  assured  that  when,  through  her  example, 
they  should  have  become  the  mode,  she  would  be  as 
far  in  advance  again  with  some  new  bit  of  tasteful 
ingenuity. 

It  was  upon  these  two,  Kingbolt  and  Angelica,  that 
interested  glances  were  principally  directed.  So  per- 
fect in  every  artificial  appointment,  so  elastic  in 
tread,  so  comely  and  blooming,  so  airily  free  from 
trace  of  self-distrust,  a  young  Diana  and  her  brother, 
Phoebus  Apollo,  of  upper  society,  they  radiated 
around  them,  as  it  were,  a  kind  of  awful  splendor. 

"  I  got  down  on  your  account,"  said  Kingbolt.  "  I 
saw  you  walking.  I  was  going  for  a  turn  up  the  road 
after  my  breakfast." 

"  How  very  good  of  you !  I  have  not  seen  you  for 
a  long  time.     What  is  the  news?  " 

"  I  am  bringing  over  an  English  tilbury.  I  like  to 
have  something  a  little  different  now  and  then,  you 
know,"  he  said,  twisting  a  finger  in  a  nonchalant 
way  into  the  front  of  his  collar.  "It  has  a  rumble, 
you  know,  for  one's  man.  The  horses  have  a  silver 
bar  across  their  backs,  and  are  harnessed  up  in  this 
way."     He  indicated  with  his  hands. 

"  You  must  take  me  out  in  it." 

"  I  think  I  '11  get  a  tilbury,  too,"  said  Sprowle,  not 
to  be  wholly  relegated  to  the  position  of  a  listener, 
merely  because  he  was  less  fluent  in  talk.  As  to  the 
tilbury,  he  may  have  intended  to  get  it,  but  probably 


64  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

not  till  after  his  marriage.  The  standing  of  the 
Sprowles,  fortunately,  depended  upon  something  be- 
sides a  lavish  expenditure  of  money. 

Being  of  those  who  did  not  often  take  part  in  the 
procession,  the  group  set  to  making  satirical  com- 
ments, as  on  some  display  of  curious  manners  and 
customs  of  aborigines. 

"  I  am  told  that  many  of  these  persons  who  make 
such  a  fine  appearance  are  mere  clerks,"  said  Sprowle. 
"  Indeed,  I  have  seen  some  of  them  in  the  shops." 

"  I  never  go  to  shops,"  said  Angelica.  "  I  send 
my  maid.  I  order  things  directly  from  the  manu- 
facturers, and  get  original  designs  for  myself.  Thus 
you  have  things  that  the  crowd  cannot  tiresomely 
imitate.  There  ought  to  be  some  special  dress  for  the 
lower  classes,  —  for  all  that  kind  of  people.  Simple 
caps  and  aprons,  say,  for  the  women,  and  blouses  for 
the  men.     Then  mistakes  could  not  be  made." 

"  Yes,  there  ought  to  be  a  law,  you  know,"  said 
Sprowle. 

The  clerk,  Cutler,  who  prided  himself  especially 
upon  his  dapper  attire,  and  was  hardily  scanning  the 
fair  proposer  of  the  measure  herself  with  an  air  of 
connoisseurship,  from  the  steps  of  the  Windsor  Hotel, 
would  scarcely  have  relished  a  proposition  to  put  him 
in  a  blouse,  as  a  mark  of  his  social  station. 

"  I  suppose  you  will  be  going  out  again  a  great 
deal,  now  that  Lent  is  over,"  said  Kingbolt,  suggest- 
ing a  new  train  of  thought. 

"  Yes,  I  suppose  so.  I  am  back  from  abroad  only 
so  lately  that  I  do  not  find  the  novelty  exhausted. 
Besides  one  is  so  uncomfortable  in  a  hotel.  It  will 
be  such  a  blessed  relief  when  our  house  is  done.  I 
went  to  two  or  three  places  every  night  last  winter, 


A   MAN  OF   FASHION   DRIVES   OUT   A   FRIEND.  65 

and  was  hardly  ever  in  bed  before  two  in  the  morn- 
ing.    I  sometimes  wonder  how  I  stand  it." 

"  You  are  made  of  ^-on,"  exclaimed  her  affianced, 
admiringly. 

"  I  have  done  my  share  of  all  that,"  said  Kingbolt. 
"  I  used  to  lead  the  German  continually,  chiefly 
while  you  were  abroad  ;  but  I  have  given  it  up.  I 
recollect  going  to  ten  young  people's  dinners,  fol- 
lowed by  ten  large  balls,  in  succession.  New  York 
did  not  content  me  in  those  times,  either.  I  used  to 
take  in  the  country  also.  I  made  it  a  point  to  know 
every  society  belle  from  here  to  St.  Louis.  I  thought 
nothing  of  running  out  to  Cleveland  for  a  wedding, 
or  Cincinnati  for  private  theatricals.  You  would  hear 
about  me  out  there,  I  dare  say,  even  yet.  But  I  am 
not  going  in  for  that  now.  I  shall  just  give  a  theatre 
party  or  so  pretty  soon,  —  may  be  a  dance,  at  Del- 
monico's,  or  the  club  house  up  at  Jerome  Park,  — 
and  then  clear  out." 

"  Where  shall  you  go  ?  " 

"  To  my  place  at  Kingboltsville."  He  would  have 
liked  to  hear  her  protest  against  it ;  but  she  only 
said, 

"  What  do  you  do  there  ?  It  must  be  very  stu- 
pid." 

"  Oh,  I  have  my  horses.  I  speed  them  on  a  race- 
track of  my  own.  Then  I  get  some  fellows  up 
from  here,  you  know.  We  are  close  to  Bridgehaven, 
which  is  quite  a  city.  We  shall  probably  be  taken 
in  as  a  suburb.  Then  there  is  a  social  club  of  which 
I  am  president.  They  have  made  me  president  of  a 
railroad,  too.  They  make  me  president  of  almost 
anything,  you  know,  if  I  like.  I  have  a  lot  of  trus- 
tees who  expect  me  to  be  around  part  of  the  time, 

5 


66  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

and  be  nagged  at  about  my  property.  And  there  is 
building  going  on." 

"  Yes,  I  recollect  when  I  first  met  you  at  Pau,  that 
you  were  traveling  with  your  architect,  to  get  up 
plans  for  some  industrial  museum,  or  library,  for  the 
improvement  of  your  tenantry.  I  suppose  it  is  fin- 
ished by  this  time." 

"  Oh,  that  rot !  No,  I  abandoned  it  long  ago. 
You  can't  do  much  for  that  kind  of  people  ;  they 
would  n't  appreciate  it.  Besides,  I  could  not  stand 
the  person,  that  Lloyd,  whom  I  took  along  with  me. 
He  was  an  acquaintance  of  mine,  and  I  thought  I 
could  depend  on  him  to  do  as  I  said.  But  you  would 
have  thought  that  he  was  the  one  who  was  going  to 
do  the  building,  and  had  hired  me  !  I  had  to  turn 
him  adrift.  - —  No,  my  sisters,  —  two  widows,  a  good 
deal  older  than  I,  —  are  tinkering  with  a  church  and 
a  new  wing  to  the  house.  They  make  me  subscribe 
to  the  church,  though  I  started  it  originally,  and  half 
finished  it.  That  was  another  of  my  ideas.  The 
house  has  more  wings  than  it  knows  what  to  do  with 
now.  They  went  over  awhile  ago  to  the  Maximoff 
sale,  —  at  Florence,  if  you  remember,  —  and  brought 
back  a  lot  of  vases  and  things  to  put  into  the  house 
and  the  church." 

"  I  used  to  go  to  school  with  one  of  the  little  Max- 
imoff princesses,  at  Geneva,"  said  Angelica,  by  way 
of  reminiscence.  "She  had  some  trouble  with  her 
spine.  She  took  a  fancy  to  me.  They  were  enor- 
mously wealthy.  They  had  one  of  their  residences 
there.  When  they  sent  their  great  lackeys  to  take 
her  out  for  an  airing  in  the  carriage,  I  was  often 
asked  also." 

They  were  continually  passing,  while  engaged  in 


A  MAN  OF   FASHION  DRIVES   OUT   A   FRIEND.         67 

such  discourse,  the  people  they  knew.  The  two 
young  men  were  never  done  doffing  their  hats  and 
putting  them  on  again.  The  old  beau,  Robert  Rink, 
sometimes  spoken  of  as  "  the  gray  deceiver,"  Judge 
Chippendale,  Watervliet  the  wit,  and  Dr.  Wyburd, 
all  looked  with  not  less  interest  than  their  juniors 
for  the  bow  of  the  'young  beauty.  Baron  Au,  of 
the  Pomeranian  legation,  and  Bulbul  Effendi,  the 
hideous  little  Turkish  secretary,  whom  women  toler- 
ated as  a  kind  of  bricabrac,  chuckled  over  it  audi- 
bly. De  Longbow  Rowley,  upon  failing  to  receive 
it,  though  he  was  perfectly  well  known,  —  it  was  a 
trick  Angelica  had,  occasionally,  by  way  of  keeping 
them  on  their  good  behavior,  —  said  to  Whitehead 
Finch, — 

"  /don't  see  that  she  is  such  a  howling  belle." 
When  Angelica  met  Ada  Trull,  whose  blonde  hair, 
cut  upon  her  forehead  to  an  even  line,  resembled  a 
cap  of  gold,  these  two  exchanged  several  sprightly 
nods,  in  bright  recognition  of  many  things  in  common 
between  them.  But  with  Alice  Burlington,  between 
whose  father  and  hers  there  was  a  feud,  only  glances 
of  a  far-off  pensive  criticism  were  exchanged. 

"  She  has  the  knack  of  making  herself  the  most 
distinguished  figure  in  the  company,"  said  Kingbolt, 
walking  away  after  leaving  her  at  the  Bayswater 
Hotel.  "  She  would  do  any  man  credit.  Had  I  been 
a  marrying  man  in  season,  I  could  have  found  no 
one  who  would  have  served  my  turn  more  completely. 
She  is  haughty.  I  do  not  mind  that.  We  would 
have  been  haughty  together.  Why  did  I  not  see  her 
before?"  he  said.  "  Or  rather,  why  were  not  my 
eyes  opened  ?  I  had  the  same  chance  with  her  at  Pau 
as  Sprowle,  if  I  had  wanted  it," 


68  THE  HOUSE   OF  A   MERCHANT  PRINCE. 

Was  it  possible,  after  his  large  experience  of  life, 
the  atmosphere  of  sighs  that  had  been  breathed,  the 
swath  of  damaged  affections  he  had  left  behind  him 
in  his  course  around  the  world,  that  he  could  have 
come  to  the  absurd  pass  of  being  inconvenienced  by 
one  irredeemably  beyond  his  reach  ? 

"  What  in  the  world,"  he  cried,  "can  she  see  in 
that  muff  of  a  Sprowle,  at  any  rate,  to  take  up  with 
him  ?  " 

Then  he  scoffed  at  himself  for  the  unprofitable 
speculation,  and  went  down  to  join  a  group  of  his 
friends,  ruminating  in  the  large  windows  of  the  Em- 
pire Club,  with  their  sticks  under  their  chins. 


VI. 

SOME  PERVERSE  OPINIONS  OF  MR.  BAINBRIDGE. 

Russell  Baixbridge  also  joined  the  Sunday  pro- 
cession, which  he  had  called  the  dress-parade  of  the 
drill  down  town.  He  lapsed  into  a  querulous  mood, 
as  he  went  along,  and  began  to  inveigh  against  the 
spring  as  an  unsettling  season. 

"I  dare  say  I  shall  be  laying  violent  hands  upon 
some  of  these  prosperous  people  next,  out  of  pure 
spite,"  he  said  to  himself. 

He  met  Bentley,  with  whom  he  had  formerly  been 
intimate,  leading  his  charming  boys  by  the  hand. 
"  Perhaps  I  should  have  made  a  very  tolerable  family 
man  myself,"  he  said  again. 

But,  immediately  afterwards,  meeting  Madeline 
Scarrett,  with  her  invalid  capitalist,  Elphinstone 
Swan,  he  reflected  that,  whatever  turn  fortune  might 
now  take,  this  form  of  happiness  was  of  course  for  him 
impossible. 

Well,  perhaps  it  was  better  to  have  been  disillu- 
sioned early.  One  is  wiser  for  such  experiences. 
They  are  useful  in  the  heavy  play  of  life,  which 
comes  later.  But  had  he  been  in  search  of  that 
kind  of  wisdom  ?  He  could  well  have  spared  it. 
Why  had  not  his  beliefs  been  left  to  him?  Why 
could  not  his  modest  ventures  have  been  crowned 
with  success,  as  he  saw  those  of  others  about  him 
crowned?     "I  had   the  economic  virtues,"  he  said, 


70  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

"  I  was  not  afraid  of  work,  and  I  think  I  should  have 
made  a  fairly  exemplary  use  of  success.  —  Ah,  these 
eternal  Whys ! " 

He  checked  himself,  to  inveigh  also  at  Sunday, 
when  one  is  cut  off  from  the  duties  that  keep  his 
mind  profitably  employed  during  the  week,  as  the 
most  unsettling  of  days,  just  as  spring  is  the  most 
unsettling  of  seasons. 

Well  up  towards  Central  Park,  he  encountered 
Miss  Emily  Rawson,  with  a  companion.  This  com- 
panion he  recognized,  with  a  movement  of  surprise 
and  interest,  as  no  other  than  Ottilie  Harvey.  The 
two  had  just  issued  from  the  ornamental  iron  gates 
of  Saint  Adrian's. 

11  Will  you  not  join  us  ?  "  asked  Miss  Rawson,  in 
her  high-pitched,  agreeable  voice.  "  You  and  Miss 
Ottilie  have  met  before.  I  borrowed  her  this  morn- 
ing. She  came  to  hear  me  sing.  I  am  going  to  put 
her  in  a  horse-car,  at  the  end  of  my  street,  to  get 
back  to  early  dinner  at  the  Regina  Flats.  She  is 
stopping  with  the  Hasbroucks,  and  they  insist  upon 
it.  I  have  been  singing  in  the  choir  this  morning. 
Would  you  have  come  if  you  had  been  aware  of  it  ? 
I  know  you  would  not.  You  have  not  been  at  church 
at  all  this  morning.  One  sees  that  with  half  an  eye. 
Oh,  you  young  men  !  you  young  men  !  You  need 
looking  after." 

She  had  an  almost  affectionate  air  in  her  banter. 
She  would  not  have  been  at  all  averse  to  looking 
after  this  one  herself. 

"  What  were  you  sitting  up  so  late  over,  last  night, 
that  you  could  not  have  come  to  church  ?  Bishop 
Caxton's  sermon  was  something  quite  remarkable  — 
even  if  you  cared  nothing  about  me?" 


SOME   PERVERSE    OPINIONS   OF   MR.    BAINBRIDGE.      71 

"  Perhaps  I  am  a  little  sermon  proof.  And  to  tell 
the  truth  there  was  something  a  little  out  of  the  com- 
mon. I  have  dissolved  my  connection  with  Chippen- 
dale, Bond  &  Saxby.  You  see  before  you  Russell 
Bainbridge,  Esq.,  Attorney  and  Counselor-at-Law, 
Notary  Public,  Commissioner  of  Deeds  for  several 
States,  and  so  forih,  and  so  forth,  all  on  his  own  ac- 
count. I  spent  a  good  part  of  last  evening  in  my  new 
office,  down  among  the  ghosts  of  lower  Broadway. 
The  watchmen  too  flashed  their  lanterns  at  me  and 
wanted  to  shoot  me  for  a  burglar.  It  is  up  in  the 
mansard  roof  of  the  Magoon  Building.  As  it  contains 
but  two  chairs,  a  table,  and  book-shelves,  the  problem 
of  producing  a  gorgeous  effect  became  a  rather  diffi- 
cult one.  Have  you  no  cases  you  want  undertaken, 
no  unlucky  debtors  you  want  persecuted  ?  I  know 
you  are  in  need  of  a  first-class  bond  and  mortgage, 
—  no  commission  to  the  lender.  I  have  reason  to  be- 
lieve that,  unless  this  opportunity  is  taken  advantage 
of,  there  will  never  be  any  others." 

"Oh,  yes,  you  shall  have  all  my  litigation.  I  shall 
try  to  become  as  quarrelsome  as  possible.  How  long 
will  it  take  you  before  you  are  Judge  ?  " 

"  It  may  not  be  this  week  perhaps,  nor  even  the 
next.  The  law  is  proverbiably  4  slow,  but  sure.'  It 
sometimes  happens  that  the  proportion  of  slowness 
to  sureness  is  rather  large." 

Whether  the  meeting  had  acted  as  a  stimulus  or 
he  had  the  faculty  of  putting  his  unpleasant  moods 
under  control,  at  will,  Bainbridge  now  conducted 
himself  with  quite  his  usual  animation. 

They  drew  near  in  their  turn  the  house  of  the  mer- 
chant prince. 

"  Why  do  we  not  build  palaces  f  "  said  Bainbridge, 


72  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

in  an  impatient  tone.  "It  is  high  time.  Somebody 
estimates  three  hundred  fortunes  of  a  million  dollars 
each,  and  plenty  of  these  of  from  five  to  a  hundred 
millions,  in  New  York.  What  are  they  expecting 
to  do  with  their  money,  these  Croesuses  ?  Does  ex- 
perience show  that  their  children  spend  it  to  any 
better  advantage  than  themselves  ?  I  should  say  not. 
Here  now  is  one  more  big,  genteel  house,  with  no 
idea  above  that  of  a  wretched  little  comfort.  No 
breadth,  no  grandeur,  nothing  monumental.  Where- 
ever  there  is  a  chance  for  an  honest  space  of  blank 
wall  in  an  American  building  they  punch  it  full  of 
windows." 

"  I  trust  you  are  not  forgetting  Miss  Harvey's  re- 
lationship," interposed  Miss  Rawson. 

"  Not  at  all ;  but  that  need  not  trammel  our  ex- 
plorations into  the  pure  realm  of  the  higher  arts. 
Besides,  these  opinions  are  eternal  verities,  as  it  were. 
I  get  them  from  G.  Lloyd  and  Aureolin  Slab." 

He  directed  a  pleasant  questioning  glance  at  Otti- 
lie,  on  the  other  side  of  Miss  Rawson.  He  was  won- 
dering what  resentment,  if  any,  she  cherished  for  his 
part  in  their  peculiar  first  meeting  now  two  months 
ago. 

Ottilie  raised  her  eyebrows  at  some  of  his  views. 
She  heard,  for  the  first  time,  for  instance,  that  com- 
fort was  so  very  despicable  an  ideal,  but  she  found 
him  amusing,  and  had  no  idea  of  taking  further  of- 
fense. 

"  Sardanapalus,  now,  Lucullus  —  that  kind  of  per- 
son—  understood  the  thing,"  he  went  on,  confessedly 
with  the  extravagance  of  one  whose  theories  were 
never  likely  to  be  put  in  practice.  "  For  my  part  I 
should  have  a  house  as  big  as  the  Sub-Treasury,  or  the 


SOME   PERVERSE    OPINIONS   OF   MR.    BA1NBRIDGE.       id 

Post-Office.  I  should  have  perfumes  burned  at  my 
banquets,  slaves  with  pots  of  jewels  on  their  heads, 
roast  peacock  with  the  feathers  on,  and  a  pearl  or 
two  dissolved  in  everybody's  wine-glass." 

"  And  you  would  ride  out  in  a  circus  chariot,  I  sup- 
pose, drawn  by  twenty-four  white  horses  with  nodding 
plumes  ?  " 

"  I  do  not  know  but  I  should.  On  the  whole,  I 
think  I  should,  — just  to  show  that  I  was  not  to  be 
browbeaten  by  other  people's  ideas  of  what  was  right 
and  proper  for  one  with  so  much  larger  opportunities 
than  themselves." 

"  The  people  about  you  would  be  very  insincere." 

"  I  dare  say  I  should  not  be  very  sincere  myself, 
but  we  should  try  to  have  a  glorious  good  time,  all 
the  same." 

"  You  are  dreadf  id  to-day.  I  wonder  we  listen  to 
you.  —  But  here  is  our  street.  Good-by  !  Can  you 
not  come  up  on  Friday  evening  ?  Ottilie  and  the 
Hasbrouck  girls  will  be  with  me.  Bring  your  violin. 
Out  of  order  ?  Oh,  well,  come  without  it,  then. 
Good-by  !  " 

"  Perhaps  Miss  Harvey  will  let  me  put  her  in  the 
car,"  volunteered  Bainbridge.  "  Or,"  deferring  po- 
litely, "  perhaps  she  may  even  feel  like  walking 
down,  —  though  I  fear  that  would  be  too  fatiguing?  " 

"  I  am  an  excellent  walker,"  said  Ottilie,  hesitat- 
ing. 

The  delightful  morning  and  the  many  novel  sights 
and  sounds  about  allured  her.  If  she  had  borne  re- 
sentment it  did  not  survive  these  fascinating  influ- 
ences. She  did  the  young  man  a  tardy  justice.  After 
all,  perhaps  it  was  not  his  fault  that  he  had  been 
present  at  the  disagreeable  interview. 


74  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

"  Thank  you  ;  I  will,"  she  concluded.  "  One  hardly 
knows  what  distance  is,  in  this  entertaining  New 
York." 

The  arrangement  may  not  have  met  with  the  most 
perfect  approval  of  Miss  Rawson.  She  repeated  her 
farewells  graciously,  however.  They  saw  her  disap- 
pear down  one  of  the  blocks  in  the  numerically  en- 
titled cross  streets.  Its  collection  of  red  sandstone 
fagades,  with  their  projecting  porches,  cornices,  and 
window  heads,  seen  in  profile,  had  somehow  the  as- 
pect of  cliffs  or  palisades,  the  flights  of  heavy  steps 
serving  for  the  bank  of  debris,  at  the  customary  angle 
of  forty-five  degrees. 

Ottilie  said  to  Bainbridge  that  Mrs.  Hasbrouck 
had  lately  come  to  take  up  her  abode  at  the  apart- 
ment house  on  the  French  plan,  known  as  the  Re- 
gina  Flats,  and  that  Amy  and  Lulu  Hasbrouck  had 
brought  her  down  to  spend  the  short  spring  vacation 
with  them.  "  They  would  not  take  No  for  an  an- 
swer," she  said. 

Bainbridge  speculated  as  to  whether  she  might 
have  quixotically  refused  for  this  some  invitation  to 
visit  her  uncle's  family  instead.  But  she  had  not  in 
fact  been  subjected  to  the  temptation,  though  she 
may  have  somewhat  expected  it.  The  estrangement, 
so  far  as  she  was  concerned,  remained  as  before. 

"Are  you  as  great  a  Westerner  as  ever?"  The 
young  man  inquired,  when  they  had  gone  on  some 
little  way,  discoursing  with  gradually  decreasing  for- 
mality. 

"  Oh,  bigoted"  she  replied,  laughing. 

She  was  dressed  this  morning  in  black  silk,  of  a 
soft  character,  fitting  her  neat  figure  excellently.  She 
had  crossed  a  white  handkerchief,  bordered  with  lace, 


SOME   PERVERSE   OPINIONS    OF   MR.    BAINBRIDGE.      75 

over  her  shoulders  and  waist.  In  facing  towards  her 
companion,  she  was  obliged  to  turn  the  upper  part  of 
her  body,  as  the  satin  bows  of  her  bonnet  held  her 
round  chin  a  little  stiffly.  They  might  be  fancied  to 
take  a  certain  pleasure  in  the  embrace.  The  sun, 
shining  directly  from  the  south,  as  its  way  is  at  noon, 
was  sometimes  a  little  incommoding.  To  shade  her 
eyes,  she  held  up  a  small  morocco  prayer-book,  pressed 
against  the  fringe  of  hair  on  her  forehead,  and  looked 
out  at  him  from  beneath  it. 

They  went  down,  past  the  unfinished  Cathedral, 
the  Moorish  synagogue,  the  Egyptian  reservoir  ;  the 
castellated  dwellings  opposite,  on  the  battlements  of 
which  an  Ivanhoe,  or  a  Sister  Anne,  might  have  ap- 
peared ?  They  went  down  past  the  church  of  the 
Heavenly  Rest,  with  the  angels  trumpeting  to  the 
heavens  from  its  tower  ;  past  the  tall  hotels  and 
apartment  houses,  past  the  random  shops  of  tailors, 
confectioners,  and  jewelers,  recommending  themselves 
to  neighborhoods  where  they  were  not  greatly  wanted, 
by  a  profuse  display  of  Eastlake  decoration. 

A  few  tender  flowers  were  seen  in  the  beds  along 
the  base  of  the  massive  granite  reservoir.  In  a  door- 
yard,  a  peculiarly  warm  and  sheltered  nook,  a  mag- 
nolia shrub  had  already  opened  some  of  its  large 
creamy  blossoms,  though  the  leaves  had  not  appeared. 

Ottilie  exclaimed  at  the  lovely  sight. 

"  Such  a  tree  might  grow  in  the  courts  of  Paradise," 
she  said. 

"  There  is  a  lesson  in  it.  It  is  very  young  and  sim- 
ple," responded  Bainbridge,  affecting  cynicism  at  the 
expense  of  the  poor  plant.  "It  will  find  that  such 
a  splendid  effusiveness  will  not  do.  After  it  has  put 
forth  all  its   flowers,  you  will  see  it  adopt  a  foliage 


76  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

more  in  keeping  with  the  conditions  of  a  cold  and 
heartless  world." 

"  How  many  interesting  faces  one  sees  in  such  a 
crowd !  "  said  Ottilie,  turning  to  it  again. 

"  There  are  faces,  occasional^,  that  almost  give 
one  a  pang.  He  is  never  to  see  them  again.  They 
pass  and  that  is  the  end  of  it.  But  no  doubt  it  is 
better  that  it  should  be  so." 

"  You  do  not  think  they  would  wear,  then  ?  You 
think  they  would  not  prove  worth  your  knowing  ?  " 

"  Perhaps  I  should  not  prove  worth  their  know- 

ing." 

Bainbridge  made  himself  her  cicerone,  and  told  her 
what  he  thought  might  be  interesting  of  the  people 
who  went  by.  They  met  some  of  the  upright  Wal- 
kills,  and  the  wicked  Huyskamps.  They  met  Water- 
vliet  the  wit ;  young  Stillsby,  whose  latest  inanity 
goes  the  rounds  with  Watervliet's  latest  gibe  ;  Blithe- 
wood  Gwin  the  journalist ;  Wrye  the  banker,  who 
was  thought  to  carry  Blithewood  Gwin  in  his  pocket 
almost  as  easily  as  a  copy  of  his  journal;  Mrs.  Stone- 
glass,  whose  literary  receptions  are  so  highly  es- 
teemed ;  Mrs.  Eglantine,  who  turns  her  social  posi- 
tion to  account  for  the  benefit  of  strugglers,  and 
entertains  her  friends  at  other  people's  parties ;  the 
Hudson  Hendricks,  the  Antrams,  the  Schinkos ; 
Plackley  and  Hastings,  two  intimates  of  Rodman 
Harvey.  They  met  Daisy  Goldstone,  Ada  Trull, 
Alice  Burlington  ;  and  the  Misses  Gilhooley,  daugh- 
ters of  the  ex-state  senator  of  that  name,  who  had 
laid  the  foundations  of  his  fortune  at  a  corner  grocery 
in  the  "  Bloody  "  Sixth  Ward. 

"  What  a  variety  of  people  !  And  how  do  you  come 
to  know  about  them?''  exclaimed  Ottilie. 


SOME   PERVERSE   OPINIONS   OF   MR.    BAINBRIDGE.      77 

"  Oh,  I  have  been  at  the  Misses  Gilhooley's  parties 
as  well  as  the  Bourdons'  and  Antrams'.  There  are 
no  nicer  nor  quieter  girls  now,  since  their  convent 
education.  It  is  an  interesting  class,  that  of  the  im- 
migrants who  have  arrived  at  prosperity  with  their 
native  traits  unchanged.  Refinement  of  speech  and 
manners  is  mingled  with  dialects  and  boorish  coarse- 
ness. Gilhooley  did  not  wish  to  leave  the  Sixth  Ward 
even  after  he  was  rich,  but  was  prevailed  upon  to  do 
so  by  these  daughters,  who  insisted  that  they  wanted 
their  house  on  Madison  Avenue  while  they  were  still 
young,  and  not  when  too  old  to  enjoy  it.  They 
engage  more  or  less  in  politics,  and  hold  offices,  — 
the  wealthy  ex-plumbers  and  liquor-saloon  keepers. 
They  wish  their  children  to  have  educational  advan- 
tages superior  to  their  own.  This  often  results  in 
heart-burnings.  They  are  purse-proud,  too,  and  some- 
times cut  their  children  off  in  good  old  country  style, 
for  '  misalliances.'" 

"  You  are  a  student  of  types  and  characters, 
then9" 

"  A  student  very  backward  at  his  lessons,  if  so.  I 
have  seen  a  random  collection  of  people  and  places, 
while  drifting  along ;  that  is  all." 

When  Kingbolt  and  St.  Hill  were  seen  riding  up 
in  their  dog-cart,  he  had  something  to  say  of  them  in 
their  turn. 

"  Is  it  not  severely  disapproved  of,"  inquired  Ot- 
tilie,  — "  their  parading  up  like  that,  just  as  the 
churches  are  letting  out  ?  " 

"  As  likely  as  not  they  take  some  credit  to  them- 
selves for  going  up  with  only  a  single  horse,  instead 
of,  for  instance,  Kingbolt's  tandem,  of  alternate  bays 
and  grays.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  nobody  is  better  re- 
ceived in  society  than  he." 


78  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

u  They  put  up  with  his  bad  qualities  in  considera- 
tion of  certain  good  ones,  I  suppose  ?  " 

"  I  think  they  rather  put  up  with  his  good  quali- 
ties in  consideration  of  his  bad.  But  nobody  ever 
seriously  disapproves  of  a  person  with  such  a  prop- 
erty.    Why,  it  must  be  five  millions." 

She  gave  him  a  reproachful  glance. 

"  What  is  his  occupation  in  life  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  Spending  the  revenues  of  the  Eureka  Tool  Com 
pany  is  a  very  pretty  occupation." 

"  Well,  how  does  he  spend  them?  " 

"  He  has  numerous  caprices.  He  went  abroad  with 
young  Lloyd,  the  architect,  to  get  up  plans  for  model 
buildings,  but  quarreled  with  Lloyd,  abandoned  the 
project,  and  brought  back  this  St.  Hill  with  him  in- 
stead. He  spent  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  on  a 
church  at  Bridgehaven  ;  then  left  it.  His  latest  hobby, 
I  believe,  is  the  English  sport  of  fox-hunting.  He 
has  his  friends  in  red  coats,  corduroys,  and  top-boots. 
They  go  flying  over  the  stone  fences  in  Westchester 
County  in  the  most  picturesque  and  dangerous  fash- 
ion. He  has  corresponding  whims  in  his  personal 
appearance.  Sometimes  he  is  very  simple.  Again, 
he  will  wear  gold  buttons  on  his  dress  coat,  half  a 
dozen  rings  on  each  hand,  and  bangles,  like  a  woman, 
and  pack  up  a  dozen  suits  of  clothes  for  a  two  days' 
visit.  When  he  first  went  to  Bridgehaven,  in  all  his 
magnificence,  the  good  people  held  up  their  hands  in 
holy  horror.  They  had  never  seen  a  '  swell '  before, 
he  said,  and  he  thought  he  would  show  them  what 
one  was  like." 

When  this  person  alighted,  as  described,  and  came 
back  in  company  with  the  others,  Ottilie  had  her 
glance  of  interest  for  the  trio. 


SOME   PERVERSE   OPINIONS    OF   MR.   BAINBRIDGE.      79 

"  What  a  beautiful  girl !  "  she  exclaimed,  quite  in- 
nocently referring  to  Angelica. 

Bainbridge,  embarrassed,  found  her  looking  at  him 
inquiringly.  "  Your  cousin,  Miss  Angelica  Harvey," 
he  said.  "  Mr.  Austin  Sprowle,  to  whom  she  is  en- 
gaged, is  the  other  one." 

Ottilie  was  more  embarrassed.  Fate  seemed  to 
force  a  confidence  between  them  on  this  basis.  But 
she  adopted  the  policy  of  entire  frankness  as  the 
best. 

"  There  have  been  disagreements,  as  you  know,  in 
our  family,  and  I  have  seen  little  of  these  relatives," 
she  said.  "  My  cousin  is  very  accomplished,  I  sup- 
pose, as  well  as  beautiful  ?  " 

"  I  have  the  pleasure  of  but  a  slight  acquaintance 
with  her.  She  i  speaks  every  conceivable  language,' 
as  our  friend  Miss  Rawson  would  say.  That  means 
French  and  German  very  well,  and  Italian  enough  for 
use  in  singing.  She  has  visited  titled  people,  and 
been  presented  at  court.  She  rides,  dances,  and  con- 
verses. She  does  not  always  converse  too  amiably. 
Some  of  the  young  men  are  said  to  be  afraid  of  her 
on  account  of  the  sharp  things  she  says  to  them.  She 
is  a  student  of  character,  now.  She  considers  me,  for 
instance,  an  extremely  matter-of-fact  person." 

"  And  Mr.  Sprowle,  what  is  he  like  ?  What  is  his 
profession  ?  " 

"  He  is  a  genteel  idiot,  as  I  think.  His  profession 
Vs  the  same  as  Kingbolt's,  though  he  has  not  the  same 
money  to  carry  it  on  with." 

Ottilie  was  not  wholly  pleased.  She  would  have 
preferred  her  kinsfolk  to  be  left  to  their  attitude  of 
dignity,  at  least. 

"  I  should  hardly  think  my  uncle  would  like  such  a 
match,"  she  commented  more  distantly. 


80  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

"  They  take  him  for  his  family.  That  is  what  the 
ladies  want,  and  Mr.  Harvey  lets  them  have  their  own 
wa}\  Sprowle  is  the  sixth  in  descent  from  an  ances- 
tor who  was  a  governor,  or  something  of  that  kind, 
before  the  Revolution.  Sometimes  he  is  quoted  in  the 
fashionable  intelligence  as  Austin  Sprowle,  Sixth,  as 
though  he  were  a  part  of  a  regular  dynasty.  You 
cannot  do  better  than  such  a  connection  in  the  way 
of  aristocracy  in  America." 

"  But  do  you  not  think  that  every  young  man 
should  have  some  useful  work  to  do  ?  " 

"  That  is  one  of  those  things  that  come  under  the 
head  of  '  Important  if  True.'  Why  should  he  ?  If 
the  young  millionaire  were  going  to  have  a  tremen- 
dous business  talent,  together  with  the  power  that 
his  money  gives  him,  where  should  the  rest  of  us  be  ? 
No  !  Polo,  pigeon-shooting,  racquets,  coaching,  yacht- 
ing, fox-hunting,  are  his  proper  field,  unless  he  can 
go  into  the  arts.  He  should  aim  to  hand  down  the 
best  possible  constitutions  to  the  next  generation  or 
two.  They  will  surely  need  them  in  the  work  of 
accumulating  fortune  anew,  when  it  has  slipped 
through  their  fingers  in  the  natural  course.  —  Sprowle 
does  a  little  of  all  these  things,  but  he  is  not  very 
good  at  any." 

"  He  might  at  least  do  them  well." 

"  Why,  so  he  might ;  but  he  does  n't.  It  is  a  fine, 
hearty,  natural  existence,"  lie  continued,  in  a  moral- 
izing way,  "  like  that  of  your  Pottawatomies  at  Lone 
Tree."  Ottilie  frowned  momentarily  at  this.  "  The 
polo  mallet  is  the  noblest  implement  of  husbandry  in 
the  world,  unless  we  except,  perhaps,  the  hickory  oar 
or  the'  Creedmoor  rifle.  The  wild  young  aborigine 
of  civilization,  instead  of  going  down  town  to  an  oifice 


SOME   PERVERSE    OPINIONS   OF   MR.    BAINBRIDGE.      81 

desk  and  a  dyspepsia  and  a  hectic  flush,  is  off  to  the 
chase  in  the  glades  of  the  forest.  Ti-?-a  !  ti-ra  !  the 
rabbit,  the  quail,  the  snipe,  the  New  Jersey  woodcock  ! 
Back  he  comes  at  night,  his  sinews  strengthened,  his 
pulses  bounding.  He  throws  down  the  spoils  at  the 
feet  of  his  primitive  spouse.  A  few  friendly  savages 
of  the  vicinity,  in  evening  dress,  gather  around  the 
frugal  mahogany  to  compare  notes  on  the  prowess  of 
the  day.  And  so  to  well-earned  repose,  on  silken 
mattresses  and  eider-down  pillows." 

"  But  if  he  be  as  stupid  as  you  say  ?  A  bright, 
intelligent  girl  might  be  capable  of  so  much  more 
under  better  circumstances." 

"  Oh,  if  the  wise  married  only  the  wise,  and  the 
beautiful  the  beautiful  "  — 

And  with  this  they  were  at  the  Regina  Flats. 

Ottilie  saw  that  much  of  what  he  had  said  was,  on 
the  face  of  it,  drollery.  But  it  was  impossible  at  the 
same  time  to  decide  what  part  also  might  not  have 
conveyed  his  own  sentiments.  She  did  not  like  such 
a  confirmed  tone  of  ridicule.  And  she  did  not  like 
it  in  a  person  that  he  spoke  of  himself  as  one  who 
had  drifted  in  life,  and  had  not  squared  his  doings  to 
a  fixed  plan. 


VII. 

PROSPECTS  FROM  HARVEY'S  TERRACE. 

The  Regina  Flats  was  near  Madison  Square.  It 
was  a  very  tall,  red  brick  apartment  house,  with  pic- 
turesque balconies  and  a  slate  roof  of  many  stories. 
Bainbridge,  whose  own  lodging  was  not  far  distant, 
renewed  this  morning  the  acquaintance  of  the  Has- 
brouck  family,  and  began  thereafter  to  make  some- 
what frequent  visits  to  their  elevated  quarters  in  the 
Regina  Flats. 

He  devised,  also,  some  plans  for  the  entertainment 
of  his  friends  and  of  Ottilie,  their  guest.  He  took 
them  to  the  opera  and  the  theatre  ;  and  again  to  a 
dinner  at  one  of  the  better  restaurants  kept  in  the 
foreign  style.  With  the  novelty  of  this  last  Ottilie 
was  especially  charmed. 

The  young  man  esteemed  his  income  at  this  time 
as  too  paltry  to  be  husbanded  in  the  least,  and  spent 
it  freely.  He  gave  himself,  in  his  association  with 
these  girls,  somewhat  the  air  of  a  mature  person  min- 
istering to  the  pleasure  of  ingenuous  youth.  Per- 
il aps  he  deceived  himself  with  this  view,  but  it  was 
one  in  which  the  three  Vassar  undergraduates  (who 
had  no  small  idea  of  the  importance  of  their  ages  and 
station)  would  hardly  have  coincided.  He  found  in 
Ottilie  an  enthusiasm,  an  unhesitating  belief  in  the 
possibility  of  doing  anything  and  everything,  whereas, 
by  virtue  of  his  own  cynical  enlightenment,  he  knew 


PROSPECTS  FROM  HARVEY'S  TERRACE.       83 

perfectly  well  that  little  or  nothing  could  be  done,  or 
was  worth  doing  if  it  could  be.  He  said  to  himself 
that  this  was  an  amusing  contrast  and  a  distraction. 

They  two  had  plenty  of  opportunity  for  talking 
together.  Mrs.  Hasbrouck  was  of  a  social  nature. 
Though  she  could  entertain  now  in  but  a  poor  way, 
she  soon  had  numbers  of  her  compatriots  who  came 
to  see  her  and  her  daughters,  and  engaged  their  at- 
tention. 

These  were  largely  Southern  emigres  who,  tired  of 
stagnating  at  home,  had  at  last  gravitated  to  New 
York,  to  try  and  repair  their  broken  fortunes.  Most 
of  the  men  had  titles  derived  from  the  land  or  naval 
service  of  the  extinct  Confederacy,  and  a  certain  mil- 
itary way  of  carrying  themselves,  though  now  en- 
gaged in  civil  pursuits,  often  of  an  unpretending 
character.  Among  those  of  the  other  sex  who  came 
w^as  the  poetess,  Mrs.  Anne  Arundel  Clum..  She  had 
written,  in  the  heat  of  the  struggle, 

"  Will  ye  cringe  to  the  hot  tornado's  rack, 
To  the  vampires  of  the  North  ?  " 

but  was  now  the  fashion-and-literary  editor  of  the 
"  Saturday  Evening  Budget." 

Ottilie  learned  something,  in  this  way,  of  the 
Southern  element  in  New  York ;  something  of  per- 
sons who  did  not  come  as  well  as  those  who  did.  She 
took  occasion  to  repeat  to  Bain  bridge  stories  of  bat- 
tles and  sieges  she  had  heard,  which  gratified  her 
taste  for  the  marvelous.  She  expressed  an  inter- 
est, also,  in  some  taciturn  young  men  with  traditional 
Virginian  names,  who  showed  themselves  occasion- 
ally. They  were  studying  medicine  and  engineering 
upon  scanty  means.  Whereupon  Bainbridge  strangely 
found  them  of  just  no  interest  at  all.     She  said  that 


84  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

Mr.  Dinwiddie  had  related  to  her  instances  of  a 
touching  fidelity  and  devotion  between  slaves  and 
their  masters.  Colonel  Roanoke,  in  depicting  the 
ruin  of  the  war,  had  shown  how  the  valuation  of  the 
State  of  Georgia,  for  example,  had  shrunk  from  six 
hundred  millions  of  dollars  to  but  one  hundred  and 
fifty  millions,  through  the  abolition  of  property  in 
slaves  alone. 

"  How  singular  it  would  have  been,"  speculated 
Ottilie,  "  had  the  South  succeeded  instead  of  us. 
Supposing  it  were  now  alongside  of  us  as  a  foreign 
country,  with  separate  flag,  and  uniforms  of  its  own, 
and  a  long  line  of  custom-houses !  It  would  have 
been  interesting  to  travel  in,  would  it  not?  And 
both  sides  would  probably  have  gone  on  growing 
more  and  more  unlike  as  they  got  older." 

"  It  might  have  partly  taken  the  place  of  Europe," 
said  Bainbridge,  "  only  we  should  not  have  regarded 
it  with  quite  the  same  abject  reverence  which  is  the 
normal  attitude  of  every  good  American." 

"I  do  not  wish  to  listen  to  any  such  sacrilege. 
Europe  is  my  dream." 

"  Oh,  I  shall  not  do  Europe  any  harm ;  but  let  it 
keep  to  its  own  side  of  the  water." 

Ottilie  talked,  being  led  on  by  her  listener  to  do 
so,  of  the  things  of  greatest  moment  in  her  present  life. 
She  spoke  of  her  studies,  her  friends,  the  routine  of 
the  school.  The  characters  in  books  she  had  read,  it 
also  appeared,  had  taken  a  strong  hold  upon  her. 
She  considered  them  worthy  of  not  less  animated 
discussion  than  real  persons.  There  were  secretly 
those  among  them  she  would  have  liked  to  imitate. 
She  would  have  wished  to  be  like  Ethel  Newcome, 
generously  giving  away  half  her  property,  herself  re- 


PROSPECTS    FROM   HARVEY'S   TERRACE.  85 

maining  unknown ;  or  Romola,  attending  upon  the 
footsteps  of  the  blind  old  scholar,  her  father;  or 
Theresa,  in  "  Picciola,"  softening  the  lot  of  the  poor 
prisoner  of  Fenestrella. 

Whatever  was  magnanimous  quickly  moved  her. 
She  was  responsive,  too,  to  music  and  fine  poetry, 
and  had  a  capacity  for  getting  pleasure  out  of  simple 
things.  A  shop  window,  an  odd  figure  or  an  animal, 
furnished  material.  With  a  quick  observation,  too, 
she  was  sometimes  rather  ingenious  in  reflection. 

Looking  down  into  the  street,  for  instance,  from 
their  balcony,  she  said,  "  How  strange  that  the  whole 
traffic  should  be  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  mate- 
rial wants  !  First  a  dry-goods  store,  then  crockery, 
then  millinery,  then  shoes,  jewelry,  drugs,  hardware, 
groceries.  Only  once  in  a  long  time,  books,  pictures, 
or  even  flowers.  Do  you  suppose,  when  we  are  suffi- 
ciently advanced,  there  will  be  just  as  many  banners 
hung  out,  wagons  going  along,  clerks  behind  the 
counters,  and  crowds  passing  in  and  out  —  all  shop- 
ping for  something  for  the  higher  faculties  instead 
of  the  lower?  " 

But  she  was  by  no  means  an  oppressively  serious 
person.  Bainbridge  was  privileged  to  see  her  in 
moods  of  a  breezy  playfulness,  that  bore  out  the  fore- 
cast of  her  illuminating  smile.  She  carried  her 
hands  in  the  pockets  of  her  jacket.  She  sometimes 
whistled  a  little  to  herself,  over  a  piece  of  embroi- 
dery. Seated  at  the  piano,  she  threw  out  her  arms 
in  wild  despair  or  disdain  over  certain  music. 

There  came  up  some  of  those  discussions  on  ver- 
bal points  so  common  by  reason  of  the  want  of  logic  in 
our  language.  Should  "  either  "  be  pronounced  e-ther 
or  i-ther.     Should  one  say  acclimated  or  acclimated, 


86  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

or  spell  certain  words  with  double  letters  or  single  ? 
These  were  the  problems  mooted.  Ottilie  secured 
the  large  dictionary  in  her  lap  and  bestowed  herself 
in  an  easy-chair.  She  had  placed  an  ottoman  for  her 
feet,  the  better  to  sustain  its  weight ;  and  this  af- 
forded a  glimpse  of  small  slippers  and  pretty,  blue, 
clocked  stockings. 

"I  say  z-ther  when  I  am  afraid  of  people,  and 
e-ther  when  I  am  not,"  she  announced,  as  her  ultima- 
tum on  that  point. 

"  Webster  gives  but  one  Z,"  declared  Bainbridge, 
arguing  a  question  of  spelling. 

"  But  /give  two,"  she  asserted  with  intrepidity. 

"  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  you  don't  believe  in 
Webster  ?  " 

"  I  mean  to  say  that  I  believe  in  Ottilie  Harvey." 

But  when  she  was  forced,  by  general  pressure  of 
opinion,  to  consult  the  authority,  it  was  found  against 
her.  She  refused  to  announce  the  decision,  shut  the 
covers  abruptly  together,  and  endeavored,  by  flagrant 
subterfuges,  to  disguise  her  defeat. 

The  balcony  of  the  apartment  commanded  an  ex- 
tensive view.  There  could  be  seen  from  it  the  inte- 
rior of  a  city  block,  with  occasional  vines,  a  metal 
statue  or  urn,  in  the  depths  of  the  small  yards,  di- 
vided by  high  fences,  like  bins.  There  was  a  glimpse 
of  Booth's  Theatre,  the  Grand  Opera  House,  and  a 
bit  of  the  heights  of  Hoboken. 

Ottilie  had  excellent  eyes,  and  was  pleased  to  make 
tests  of  their  ability.  Her  companions  were  some- 
times skeptical  as  to  these.  She  read,  for  instance, 
on  the  high  wall  of  a  distant  manufactory,  the  in- 
scription, "  Hackley  &  Valentine,  Church,  School, 
and   House  Furniture."     But  Bainbridge  scoffinglv 


PROSPECTS   FROM   HARVEY'S   TERRACE.  87 

declared  it  to  be  "  Coffins,  Millinery,  and  Assorted 
Railroad  Ties"  instead.  He  pretended  further  to 
discern  the  monogram  on  the  seal  ring  of  a  man 
leaning  out  of  a  window  at  the  other  end  of  the 
block.  When  the  glass  was  brought,  however,  it  ap- 
peared that  she  was  right.  She  endeavored  to  give 
the  credit  for  her  good  vision,  somehow,  to  her  much- 
maligned  West. 

One  afternoon  she  went  out  with  Bainbridge  to 
visit  studios  and  picture  galleries.  She  was  to  be  left 
afterwards  at  Harvey's  Terrace,  where  she  wished  to 
call  upon  Wilhelmina  Klauser,  now  returned  from 
her  musical  studies  at  Leipsic.  The  Klausers  would 
see  to  her  safe  return  in  the  evening. 

They  went  to  Tenth  Street,  and  Twenty-Third 
Street,  and  thence  to  the  well-known  gallery  of  a 
dealer  in  works  of  the  best  class,  of  the  modern 
schools  of  Paris,  Munich,  Rome,  and  Madrid. 

Hardly  had  they  entered  this  place  when  Ottilie 
recognized  her  cousin,  Selkirk  Harvey.  He  was  in 
company  with  a  richly  dressed  lady,  and  a  man 
who,  though  quite  bald,  was  of  a  figure  still  young. 
This  latter  spoke  in  an  effeminate  voice.  The  three 
were  grouped  about  a  salesman,  who  expatiated  on 
the  merits  of  canvases  before  them.  Selkirk  came 
over  presently  and  shook  hands  with  her.  Then  he 
led  her  back  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  the  lady, 
who  was  his  mother  and  her  aunt.  She  made,  also, 
the  acquaintance  of  the  gentleman  with  them,  who 
proved  to  be  Mr.  Aureolin  Slab. 

Mrs.  Rodman  Harvey  stared  at  her  niece  in  a  way 
no  doubt  permissible  "in  the  family,"'  and  compli- 
mented her  broadly,  as  if  it  were  a  surprising  circum- 
stance that  she  should  be  so  presentable  a  person. 


88  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

"  I  have  beard  of  you.  Your  uncle  told  me  about 
you,"  she  said;  "but  I  have  been  so  busy — I  have 
so  many  cares  —  Nobody  who  has  not  been  through 
them  can  have  the  faintest  conception.  We  are  dec- 
orating and  furnishing  the  house  now,  and  it  seems 
as  if  every  mortal  being  connected  with  it  had  con- 
spired to  annoy  me.  We  are  looking  at  pictures  for 
the  gallery."     She  paused,  as  if  for  some  observation. 

"  Ah,  indeed  !  "  murmured  Ottilie. 

"  What  we  had  in  Union  Square  are  but  the  mer- 
est item  towards  filling  up,"  continued  Mrs.  Rodman 
Harvey.  "  Mr.  Slab  has  been  kind  enough  to  give 
me  his  assistance.  What  do  you  think  of  that  ?  " 
pointing  very  close  with  her  parasol.  "  Is  n't  it  too 
dreadful  ?  Here,  Mr.  Bainbridge,  perhaps  you  are  a 
critic.  Did  you  ever  see  such  sheep  in  your  life? 
One  would  not  have  them  at  any  price." 

She  waited  for  no  replies.  Ottilie  thought  her 
style  of  conversation  very  fragmentary,  and  also  that 
it;  must  be  rather  unpleasant  for  the  dealer  and  for 
Aureolin  Slab. 

But  the  dealer  was  used  to  people  of  many  kinds, 
and  led  on  with  unwearied  patience  from  one  to  an- 
other of  his  Bouguereaus,  G^romes,  Jacquets,  Knaus, 
Von  Marches,  Pasinis,  Michettis,  and  Madrazos.  He 
dwelt  on  their  desirability  as  investments,  and  en- 
forced his  argument  with  anecdotes  of  the  remarka- 
ble advance  in  price  of  certain  names. 

As  to  Aureolin  Slab,  this  gentleman  was  never  so 
happy  as  when  selecting  a  work  for  a  friend.  He 
had  lost  the  fortune  he  once  possessed,  and  was  no 
longer  able  to  do  it  for  himself.  He  spoke  now  of 
broken  and  pure  colors,  "mass,"  "focus,"  and  "  sym- 
pathies   of    lines,    radiating    and    converging."     He 


PROSPECTS   FROM   HARVEY 'S    TERRACE.  89 

spread  his  open  palm  at  times  before  a  picture,  with- 
out other  comment,  as  if  paddling  deliriously  in  its 
combined  excellences. 

"  If  I  had  only  thought,  I  could  have  sent  for  you 
just  as  well  as  not,"  said  Mrs.  Harvey  to  Ottilie  later, 
when  they  were  a  little  apart  from  the  others.  "  Can 
you  not  come  to  me  now  for  a  few  days  ?  With 
whom  are  you  staying  ?  What  Hasbroucks  ?  Oh, 
those  must  be  the  people  who  have  made  your  uncle 
so  much  trouble  !  " 

"  And  I  hardly  think  you  ought  to  go  about  with 
a  young  man  alone,"  she  added,  glancing  at  Bain- 
bridge. 

Ottilie  departed,  having  refused  this  invitation, 
and  not  over-pleased  with  the  scrutiny  to  which  she 
had  been  subjected,  nor  the  unpleasant  allusion  to 
her  friends.  Nevertheless,  she  had  seen  the  purchase 
by  her  aunt  of  an  actual  Goto  me,  —  the  photographs 
of  which  alone,  in  the  window  of  the  principal  pic- 
ture store  at  Lone  Tree  were  esteemed  a  choice  artis- 
tic treasure,  —  and  she  was  deeply  impressed. 

Her  companion  took  pains  to  sound  her  as  to  what 
change  of  sentiment,  if  any,  had  been  operated  by 
the  meeting.  He  found  her  more  warmly  devoted  to 
the  Hasbrouck  cause  than  ever. 

11  And  you,"  she  said,  after  some  impartial  remark 
of  his,  "  I  do  not  understand  how  you  can  be  friendly 
to  both  sides." 

"In  international  quarrels  —  and  this  had  a  kind 
of  international  aspect,  you  know  —  the  justice  of 
the  cause  is  considered." 

"  I  do  not  see  that  there  is  anything  equal  about 
it.  The  Hasbroucks  paid  once,  and  now  my  uncle 
wishes  to  make  them  pay  it  again.     He  has  got  the 


90  THE  HOUSE   OF   A  MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

courts  to  decide  in  his  favor,  and  it  is  only  some 
minor  delay  that  keeps  him  from  taking  everything 
they  have.  Meanwhile  they  have  had  little  use  of 
their  property  for  years.  The  Confederate  govern- 
ment passed  a  law  that  debts  of  its  own  citizens  to 
Northerners  were  to  be  confiscated.  This  was  one  of 
them.  But  it  seems  that  after  the  war  the  Confed- 
erate laws  were  not  considered  binding." 

44  Well  no,  hardly,"  said  Bainbridge. 

"  And  so  they  must  pay  twice.  I  think  it  out- 
rageous ;  that  is  what  I  think." 

"  The  courts  do  not  seem  to  think  so,  as  you  ad- 
mit." 

44  But  they  had  to  pay  it,"  insisted  Ottilie,  impa- 
tiently. 44  They  may  not  have  wished  to ;  I  know 
they  did  not  ;  but  their  government  made  them." 

44  It  was  their  misfortune,  then,  to  have  that  kind 
of  a  government.  I  fail  to  see  where  that  benefits 
Rodman  Harvey.  It  simply  raised  a  forced  loan  from 
them,  to  that  particular  amount,  whatever  it  was, 
and  matters  between  them  and  Rodman  Harvey  re- 
mained as  before.  We  are  sorry,  of  course,  that  it 
is  our  friends  the  Hasbroucks,  but  the  thing  is  per- 
fectly just.  Your  uncle,  besides,  has  never  had  any 
means  of  knowing  what  agreeable  and  deserving  peo- 
ple they  are,  and  he  cherishes  a  peculiar  bitterness 
towards  the  South.  Perhaps  if  there  were  anybody 
to  put  the  case  to  him  in  a  very  persuasive  way  he 
taight  be  induced  to  relent." 

Ottilie  may  have  been  more  impressed  by  this  sug- 
gestion than  at  the  moment  appeared.  But  she  said, 
perversely,  '4 1  should  not  think  lawyers  would  want 
to  practice  their  heavy  arguments  on  mere  ordinary 
persons,  unversed  in  legal   technicalities.     My  aunt 


PROSPECTS   FROM   HARVEY'S   TERRACE.  91 

said  I  ought  not  to  go  about  alone  with  you,  and  I 
do  not  think  I  will." 

"  Did  she  say  that,  now  ?  "  he  exclaimed,  in  a 
hearty  way,  with  a  laugh.  "  Has  it  reached  that 
point  ?  Well,  you  and  I  know  better.  This  is  the 
chaperon  business,  the  latest  great  American  prob- 
lem. A  matron  must  be  on  hand  everywhere,  to  play 
propriety.  Perhaps  it  is  an  indication  of  our  grow- 
ing wickedness.  At  any  rate,  since  communication 
with  Europe  has  become  so  easy,  in  these  last  years, 
European  manners  are  rapidly  making  their  way 
here.  The  amusing  thing  is  to  see  aspiring  young 
women  forcing  it,  as  a  pure  piece  of  fashion,  upon 
their  dazed  mammas,  who  would  never  have  thought 
of  it  of  their  own  accord.  It  has  considerable  vogue 
already,  however.  If  you  lived  in  New  York  1  dare 
say  you  would  come  to  it,  since  it  is  often  convenient 
to  follow  the  mode,  even  when  it  is  based  upon  ab- 
surdity. But  let  us  not  begin  yet.  Mrs.  Hasbrouck 
is  a  sensible  woman,  and  she  has  not  enforced  the 
rule.  Besides,  it  has  scarcely  touched  the  interior 
yet,  and  you  and  I  well  know  what  can  be  done 
there." 

This  view  seemed  to  Ottilie  wholly  reasonable. 
She  recalled  so  well  the  entire  freedom  prevailing  at 
home,  and  was  met  by  this  restriction  so  almost  for 
the  first  time,  that  the  puzzling  caution  of  her  aunt 
had  seemed  adapted  to  no  other  purpose  than  to  be 
.^sed,  as  she  had  used  it,  as  a  pleasantry. 

By  some  favoritism  in  early  times  the  rocky  site 
of  the  old  Muffett  mansion,  now  Harvey's  Terrace, 
had  been  exempted  from  the  general  grade.  It  rose 
close  by  the  East  River,  a  kind  of  domestic  Ehren- 


92  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

breitstein.  All  of  its  sides  but  that  of  the  sloping 
ascent  from  Second  Avenue,  were  precipitous.  At 
one  end  of  the  cul-de-sac  formed  by  the  houses  on 
the  top  was  the  gate  to  a  German  garden  and  pavil- 
ion, which  was  utilized  for  Turnverein  and  Saenger- 
bund  feasts,  balls  of  the  Dennis  J.  O' Mulligan  Asso- 
ciation, the  Box-makers'  Union,  the  Lady  Violets, 
and  the  Happy  Seven,  for  political  caucuses,  and  Fa- 
ther Mclntyre's  lectures  on  the  Ancient  Greatness  of 
Ireland.  Near  the  centre  of  the  Terrace  was  left, 
between  the  houses,  a  small  space  closed  by  an  iron 
railing,  for  a  promenade  and  lookout  upon  the  wide 
river  view. 

Harvey's  Terrace  was  very  quiet  and  genial  on  the 
April  afternoon  when  our  friends  entered  it.  They 
took  the  wrong  turning- at  first,  in  seeking  their  num- 
ber. As  they  passed,  something  of  the  blue  pros- 
pect, and  the  sails  moving  in  the  river,  could  be  dis- 
cerned completely  through  the  outer  line  of  houses. 

"  It  is  like  looking  into  the  magic  crystals  in  which 
the  old  soothsayers  used  to  pretend  to  read  the  proph- 
ecies of  fate,"  said  Ottilie. 

They  stopped  by  the  railing,  as  they  retraced  their 
steps,  for  the  enjoyment  of  the  view.  There  lingered 
near  it,  also,  a  shabby  old  person,  whose  only  object 
seemed  to  be  to  warm  himself  in  the  early  spring 
sunshine. 

A  wooden  oriel,  projecting  from  the  side-wall  of 
the  house  abutting  at  the  left  of  the  space,  held,  as 
it  were  a  bird  in  its  cage,  a  blonde  young  woman, 
sewing. 

The  river  below  was  blue.  It  was  ruffled  by  the 
breeze,  and  the  swift  passage  of  steamboats,  and 
ships  dragged  in  and  out  by  tugs.     The  ships'  masts 


PROSPECTS   FROM   HARVEY'S    TERRACE.  93 

came  nearly  up  to  a  level  with  the  eye.  An  inter- 
minable expanse  of  red  and  black  suburban  city, 
bristling  with  steeples,  spread  around  the  farther 
shores.  In  the  midst  of  the  ruffled  blue  river  lay  a 
number  of  islands,  with  singular  buildings  upon  them. 
These  were  explained  to  Ottilie  to  be  the  institutions 
for  the  poor,  sick,  and  criminals,  housed  b}r  the  great 
city  in  the  stern  charity  of  self-protection. 

It  was  the  penitentiary  that  especially  fixed  the 
young  girl's  attention,  and  exercised  a  kind  of  fasci- 
nation upon  her.  A  long,  low,  sullen,  granite  build- 
ing, lying  there  under  the  great  light  and  air,  it 
blasted  the  sight.  A  gang  of  convicts  came  out  of  it, 
and  marching  in  lock-step,  moved  like  some  strange 
sort  of  reptile  life  across  the  ground,  from  which  it 
was  hardly  distinguishable  in  color. 

A  guard-boat,  manned  by  convicts,  and  carrying 
a  keeper,  armed  with  a  rifle,  was  patrolling  the  island, 
in  the  stream.  There  might  also  have  been  noticed 
a  yawl,  which  had  put  out  from  the  shore,  and,  clum- 
sily handled,  as  if  by  inexperienced  persons,  was 
drawing  near  the  guard-boat. 

Something  as  it  were  bitter  rose  in  Ottilie's  throat, 
and  a  tender  pity  in  her  heart. 

Bainbridge  also  was  serious.  "  Great  heaven  !  " 
he  exclaimed ;  "  that  there  is  but  one  life  to  live,  and 
some  human  beings  must  pass  it  like  that ! " 

"  No,  there  is,  there  must  be,  another  !  "  said  Ot- 
tilie, with  fervor.  "These  inequalities  convince  one 
of  it  more  than  anything  else." 

The  shabby  old  person  lounging  in  the  sun,  not 
quite  so  inoffensive  as  he  had  at  first  seemed,  notic- 
ing the  object  of  their  momentary  interest,  began  by 
way  of  overture  at  conversation  — 


94  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

"  There 's  them  in  it  as  shud  be  out,  and  minny 
a  wan  out  as  shud  be  in  it,  so  there  is." 

Bainbridge  at  first  returned  him  a  careless  mono- 
syllable, but  finding  that  he  came  so  close  as  to  an- 
noy Ottilie,  said  sharply,  "  Go  off,  will  you !  We 
don't  want  you  here." 

"  I  will  not  go  off,  then,"  said  the  man  defiantly. 
"  Has  any  wan  o'  yez  a  better  right  ?  Used  n't  it 
to  be  me  own  house  and  home  ?  Used  n't  I  to  be 
livin'  here  aisy  and  paceful,  wud  me  neighbors,  till 
Harvey  kem  wud  his  lyers,  and  his  police,  and  his 
sowljers,  and  evicted  us  out  of  it?  " 

"  Oh,  if  you  are  going  to  set  up  for  the  Last  of  the 
Mohicans,  or  Philip  of  Pokanoket,  —  brooding  over 
the  ruins  of  empire,  and  that  sort  of  thing,"  said  the 
young  man  humorously.  "  I  dare  say  you  have  heard 
of  the  Last  of  the  Mohicans  ?  " 

"  I  have  not,"  replied  the  man  sullenly,  "  nor  the 
first  of  them,  nayther,  —  wud  your  GeoAegans,  and 
Poky-Woky." 

Ottilie  could  scarcely  contain  her  laughter  at  his 
discomfited  air.  But  the  movements  of  the  awk- 
wardly managed  yawl  in  the  river  were  becoming 
very  peculiar,  and  she  turned  to  watch  them.  It  had 
approached  quite  close  to  the  patrol-boat,  and  the 
armed  guard  seemed  to  be  warning  it  away. 

The  man  drew  off  somewhat  farther,  and,  having 
meditated  his  grievance,  turned  back  with  — 

"  I  did  not  hear  o'  thim,  but  I  heard  tell  o'  chatein' 
a  poor  man  out  of  his  bit  of  a  house  and  ground. 
And  I  heard  tell  o'  yourself,  that  was  wan  o'  thim 
that  was  helpin'  wud  it.  And  I  heard  tell  o'  chatein' 
a  bank,  what  is  more,"  he  added,  after  a  pause,  bend- 
ing out  his  head  in  increasing  excitement.     "  Har- 


PROSPECTS   FROM   HARVEY'S   TERRACE.  95 

vey's  Terms,  is  it  ?  It 's  over  beyant,  on  the  Island, 
Rodman  Harvey  shud  be,  be  rights." 

"  What  does  he  mean  ? "  asked  Ottilie,  turning 
back,  with  an  anxious  expression. 

"  Nothing  at  all.  He  was  one  of  the  squatters, 
who  were  put  off  when  the  land  was  wanted  for  use- 
ful purposes,  and  naturally  feels  sore  over  it.  I  rec- 
ollect him  as  particularly  violent  at  the  time.  His 
name  is  McFadd.  They  say  he  was  a  bank  mes- 
senger once,  but  lost  his  position  through  shiftless 
habits,  and  finally  drifted  to  this  place,  where  it  cost 
him  nothing  to  live. 

"  See  here,  McFadd,"  he  appended,  for  the  benefit 
of  that  person,  "  worse  will  probably  happen  to  you 
than  being  put  off  a  piece  of  land  that  was  not  yours, 
if  you  do  not  keep  a  civil  tongue  in  your  head." 

"  Others  was  knowing  to  it,  besides  meself,"  per- 
sisted McFadd,  —  "  plinty  more.  The  prisident  o' 
the  bank  was  knowing  to  it.  A  party  be  the  name 
of  Hackley  was  knowing  to  it.  A  party  be  the  name 
of  Gammage,  of  the  same  Antarctic  Bank,  was  know- 
ing to  it.  Did  n't  I  go  to  the  prisident  meself, 
thinkin'  I  'd  get  a  bit  o'  satisfaction  be  rayson  of  it, 
but  divil  the  satisfaction  did  I  get.  What  was  the 
word  o'  the  likes  o'  me  agin  the  word  o'  the  likes  o' 
him  ?  But  was  n't  I  the  missinger  o'  the  bank  meself? 
and  did  n't  I  carry  the  tillygrams?  and  did  n't  I  bring 
Harvey  to  it,  affrighted  out  of  the  life  of  him  ?  " 

Bainbridge  recalled  that  Gammage  was  an  elderly, 
broken-down  personage,  once  an  occupant  of  positions 
of  respectability,  for  whom  he  had  of  late  obtained 
an  employment  in  addressing  circulars  at  the  office 
of  the  Prudential  Land  and  Loan  Company.  He 
recollected  having  heard  from  Gammage,  also,  some 


96  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

formless  hints  to  the  detriment  of  Rodman  Harvey. 
These  were  nothing  more,  he  was  convinced,  than  the 
mouthings  of  an  impotent  malice  with  McFadd,  and 
of  a  mind  disordered  by  excesses  with  the  other.  But 
the  coincidence  of  the  mention  of  the  name  made 
him  determine  to  question,  at  a  favorable  opening, 
the  old  clerk  who  had  become  his  proteg£,  and  draw 
from  him  whatever  he  might  have  to  say,  in  more 
definite  form. 

He  was  anxious  now,  for  Ottilie's  sake,  to  check 
this  flow  of  abuse.  Before  he  could  take  any  step  to 
do  so,  however,  she  uttered  a  little  excited  cry.  It 
was  doubtful  if  she  had  heard  the  latter  remarks  of 
McFadd  at  all. 

The  yawl  from  the  shore  had  collided  with  the 
patrol-boat,  and  capsized  it.  The  armed  guard,  los- 
ing his  rifle,  which  sank  to  the  bottom  of  the  river, 
was  forced  to  swim  to  secure  his  own  safety.  His 
convict  crew  were  soon  helped  aboard  the  marauding 
boat,  and  supplied  with  fresh  clothing.  Their  now 
openly  discovered  friends  at  once  turned  back  for 
the  shore,  and  pulled  this  time  with  the  sweep  of 
trained  oarsmen.  So  sudden  and  bold  had  been  the 
manoeuvre  that  they  reached  the  covert  supplied  by 
the  freighting  schooners,  the  coal  and  wood  yards, 
the  shot  tower,  and  the  breweries  fringing  the  water's 
edge  at  Harvey's  Terrace,  before  anything  could  be 
done  on  either  side. 

McFadd  was  greatly  excited.  He  raised  and  low- 
ered himself  on  his  stiff  knee-joints  during  the  spec- 
tacle, and  cried,  "  Heaven  be  wid  ye,  boys !  " 

He  now  hobbled  down  from  the  Terrace  to  the  con- 
cluding scene  below,  where  heated  policemen,  with 
clubs  and  revolvers  drawn,  had  begun  to  beat  a 
grand  battue  among  the  lumber  yards. 


PROSPECTS    FROM  HARVEY'S    TERRACE.  97 

Ottilie,  in  trepidation  lest  the  runagates  should  ap- 
pear in  her  own  vicinity,  now  made  haste  to  her  des- 
tination, and  took  leave  of  her  escort.  It  proved  to 
be  the  very  house  next  at  hand,  and  the  bird-like 
young  woman  in  the  window  no  other  than  Wilhel- 
mina  Klauser.  The  unusual  incident  they  had  wit- 
nessed together  became  the  basis  of  an  animated 
acquaintance  at  once.  At  the  boarding-house  dinner, 
at  which  Ottilie  also  took  part,  since  Klauser  had  not 
yet  returned  from  down  town,  the  whole  subject  of 
the  escape  and  of  the  prison  in  the  neighborhood 
was  treated  of,  in  but  a  facetious  light.  The  senti- 
ment of  McFadd  was  also  heard  repeated,  to  wit, 
that  there  were  many  outside  the  prison  who  might 
justly  be  in  it. 

The  humorous  tone  was  that  which  generally  pre- 
vailed. The  lively  Mr.  Cutler  made  many  sallies. 
The  newest  piece  of  gossip  in  the  house  was  his  en- 
gagement to  the  teacher,  Miss  Speller.  It  had  just 
transpired.  They  would  be  married  within  the 
month,  Ottilie  was  told.  The  quiet,  plain  Miss  Fin- 
ley,  Miss  Speller's  inseparable  friend,  would  go  to 
live  with  them. 

The  waitress,  Sarah,  offered  the  guests  such  alter- 
natives as  "  roast  beef  or  boiled  mutton,"  "  baked 
dumpling  or  boiled  Indian  pudding." 

"  I  will  take  a  little  boiled  tea,  Sarah,"  or,  "  Some 
baked  bread,  Sarah,"  said  Cutler,  by  way  of  parody. 

To  which  the  flustered  Sarah,  unable  to  cope  with 
him  on  his  own  ground,  said  under  her  breath,  "I 
suppose  you  think  that  very  smart.     Well,  I  don't " 

This  afternoon  made  a  deep  impression  on  Ottilie. 
The  escape  of  the  prisoners  was  an  incident,  indeed, 
to  be  taken  back  to  school  and  narrated  among  the 

7 


98  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

experiences  of  her  vacation.  It  proved  to  have  been 
a  case  of  collusion  with  an  influential  prisoner.  He 
was  in  the  boat,  and  the  apparently  ill-used  keeper 
had  been  well  paid  for  his  ducking.  The  rescue  of 
the  others,  some  of  whom  were  subsequently  recap- 
tured, had  been  merely  incidental. 

Her  active  mind  and  sympathies  opened  quickly  to 
a  subject  with  which  she  had  never  before  been  con- 
fronted at  close  quarters.  She  asked  both  Bainbridge 
and  others  many  questions  about  it.  A  party  was 
made  up  to  visit  the  city  prison,  "  the  Tombs."  She 
talked  with  hardened  malefactors,  and  accepted  their 
versions  of  the  malice  and  errors  of  others,  which  alone 
had  placed  them  there,  with  great  ingenuousness. 

"  Why  is  nothing  done"  she  inquired,  "  to  make 
such  people  better,  —  to  prevent  its  going  on?  If 
women,  now,  had  the  authority,  it  seems  to  me  they 
would  do  something." 

"lam  sure  they  do  a  great  deal,"  answered  Bain- 
bridge. "  They  send  all  the  first-class  murderers 
flowers  and  quail-on-toast  and  their  photographs,  and 
try  to  get  them  out  and  introduce  them  into  the  best 
society." 

But  she  was  serious,  and  desired  to  learn  what 
steps  had  been  taken  for  the  permanent  reformation 
of  criminals.  He  could  think  of  nothing  further 
than  a  plan  at  Valencia,  in  old  Spain,  where  forty- 
three  distinct  trades  are  taught  in  the  prison,  and 
the  inmates  allowed  a  share  in  the  proceeds  of  their 
labor  ;  and  the  Maconochie  plan,  by  which  convicts 
of  good  behavior  are  finally  left  almost  free  of  super- 
vision. But  he  had  some  pamphlets  which  he  could 
send  her,  on  her  return  to  school. 

"  Only  you  must  tell  me,  when  you  have  finished 


PROSPECTS    FROM    HARVEY'S    TERRACE.  99 

them,"  he  said,  "  which  plan,  on  deliberate  reflection, 
you  like  the  best.  Will  you  not  write  me  a  purely 
philanthropic  note,  setting  forth  your  system  for  the 
final  settlement  of  these  vexed  questions?  " 

It  was  not  etiquette,  at  Lone  Tree,  to  be  hasty  in 
opening  correspondence  with  young  men,  although  one 
might  walk  or  ride  with  them  to  her  heart's  content. 

"I  am  sure  I  shall  not  have  any  opinion,"  she  re- 
plied ;   "  but  if  I  should  —     Well,  I  will  see." 

A  considerable  part  of  the  pleasure  of  her  vaca- 
tion had  been  due  to  him.  She  thought  it  a  little 
odd  that  he  should  care  to  be  so  considerate  to  her, 
when  his  way  was  to  scoff  at  everybody  and  every- 
thing else.  He  seemed  to  delight  in  representing 
himself,  too,  to  the  worst  advantage.  One  would 
have  thought  that  he  was  in  favor  of  famine,  flood 
and  pestilence,  arson  and  house-breaking,  and  opposed 
to  all  civilized  observances. 

As  to  money  matters,  he  said,  "  What  you  have 
spent,  and  that  alone,  you  have  had."  And  again, 
"  It  is  better  to  live  rich  than  to  die  rich." 

He  perhaps  put  the  climax  to  his  preposterous  say- 
ings with  the  statement, — 

"  It  is  more  heroic  to  be  a  martyr  to  error  —  con- 
scious error,  —  than  truth.  Then  you  have  nothing 
at  all  to  sustain  you,  and  it  is  pure,  solid  heroism." 

With  his  apparent  absence  of  convictions  on  all 
the  important  matters  of  life,  matters  as  good  as  set- 
tled beyond  dispute,  Ottilie  thought  him  a  person  to 
be  looked  at  with  serious  misgivings,  from  any  other 
point  of  view  than  that  of  a  very  superficial  ac- 
quaintance. 

Miss  Rawson  thought  it  odd,  too,  that  he  should 
care  to  interest  himself  in  an  immature  school-girl, 


100  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

"  a  mere  bread-and-butter  miss,"  when  he  so  rarely 
came  to  see  her.  He  presented  himself  on  the  Fri- 
day evening  when  Ottilie  was  at  her  house.  She 
took  occasion  thereupon  to  compliment  Ottilie  to  him 
in  an  artful  way. 

"  You  see  at  once  that  she  is  not  a  New  Yorker," 
she  said.  "  There  is  a  certain  lack  of  something  — 
But  I  like  it,  you  know.  It  is  such  a  pity  that  her 
uncle  is  so  hard !  There  is  not  the  slightest  possi- 
bility, I  suppose,  that  he  will  ever  do  anything  for 
her.  And  her  family,  in  that  obscure  Western  ham- 
let, —  perfectly  upright  and  honest,  of  course,  but 
so  poor.  —  He  might  do  so  much  for  them  also." 

And  to  Ottilie  she  said  of  Bainbridge  with  a  mean- 
ing smile,  which  the  young  girl  took  to  indicate  a 
kind  of  proprietorship,  u  Is  he  not  charming  ?  You 
must  like  him  very  much,  or  we  shall  quarrel." 


VIII. 

A  FLAW  IN  A  CORNER-STONE. 

The  merchant  prince  had  alighted  from  his  buggy, 
on  his  way  down  town,  every  few  mornings,  during 
the  building  of  his  mansion,  and  become  a  familiar 
figure  in  the  neighborhood.  He  had  peered  into 
corners,  turned  over  bits  of  loose  material  with  his 
boot,  and  put  sharp  questions  to  his  workmen,  lift- 
ing his  hand  to  his  ear,  in  his  awe-inspiring  way,  to 
catch  their  replies. 

When  all  was  complete  he  paid  off  those  engaged, 
having  first  beaten  them  down  to  the  lowest  point, 
and  they  departed  in  such  contentment  as  they 
might.  To  the  general  harmony  there  was  one  ex- 
ception. 

The  stone-mason,  Jocelyn,  bad  grumbled  for  some 
time,  claiming  to  have  taken  his  contract  too  cheap, 
and  to  be  carrying  it  out  at  a  loss  to  himself.  There 
had  been  no  relief  for  this,  however.  *  He  had  been 
obliged  to  acquiesce  in  the  brusque  opinion  of  Rod- 
man Harvey,  that  it  was  altogether  his  own  affair 
and  he  should  have  kept  a  sharper  lookout. 

But  now,  at  the  last  moment,  an  off-set  of  some 
hundreds  of  dollars  was  also  demanded  from  him,  for 
a  bit  of  defective  stone-work.  This,  he  thought 
might  have  been  spared  him  in  consideration  of  what 
he  had  already  suffered.  It  was  the  last  straw,  and 
it  broke  the  camel's  back.     Jocelyn  went  away  in  a 


102  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

rage,  vowing  never  to  do  another  stroke  of  work  for 
so  hard  a  task-master.  He  obtained  such  poor  satis- 
faction as  he  might  from  retailing  everything  he  could 
learn  to  the  disadvantage  of  Rodman  Harvey.  He 
did  not  disdain  even  the  scurrilous  stories  of  the 
shanty  tenants,  which  he  had  heard  while  engaged 
in  building  the  houses  in  Harvey's  Terrace.  He 
talked  in  his  abusive  way  among  other  places,  at  a 
Nassau  Street  restaurant,  where  he  was  accustomed 
to  lunch  when  coming  to  deposit  funds  in  his  bank. 

Jocetyn,  in  his  irritation,  was  disposed  to  deny  the 
plainest  evidence  of  the  senses.  There  was,  in  fact 
an  imperfection,  in  the  corner-stone  of  the  house  it- 
self. There  began  to  appear  at  once  a  scaling  of  the 
surface  —  a  defect  to  which  the  red  sandstone  of 
which  New  York  is  so  largely  built  is  subject,  but 
only  with  time,  and  hard  usage  by  the  elements. 
This  scaling  continued.  One  day  a  lamina  as  thick 
as  a  clap-board  detached  itself,  and  disclosed  below  a 
very  singular  thing. 

There  was  seen  one  of  those  large  fossil  bird  tracks 
found  in  the  Connecticut  River  formation,  from  the 
quarries  of  which  the  stone  was  derived. 

"  Anything  connected  with  birds,  you  know,  is 
dreadful,"  Mrs.  Rodman  Harvey  declared.  She  chose 
to  profess  a  superstitious  awe  at  the  occurrence,  as  if 
it  were  a  kind  of  harpy  clutch  of  destiny  upon  the 
house.  "  If  a  bird  flies  in  at  your  window,  now,  — 
nothing  could  be  worse.  I  have  known  so  many  in- 
stances." 

But  Dr.  Wyburd  held  learnedly  that  it  was  not 
certain  that  this  was  the  track  of  a  bird.  It  was  as 
likely  to  be  that  of  the  Otozoon  Moodii,  a  reptile  of 
the  Labyrinthodont  order,  and  the  Triassic  period, 
which  had  often  attained  to  a  height  of  twelve  feet. 


A   FLAW   IN   A  CORNER-STONE.  103 

Selkirk  approved  of  the  odd  foot-print  from  the 
curiosity  hunter's  point  of  view.  Angelica  fancied  it 
more  like  a  hand  than  a  claw,  and  was  pleased  to 
find  in  it  a  certain  resemblance  to  the  Muffett  crest, 
in  use  on  their  note-paper  and  carriage  panel.  It 
might  be  taken  as  a  testimony  to  their  distinction 
on  the  mother's  side,  come  down  expressly  from  the 
Mesozoic  age. 

The  block  was  therefore  neatly  surfaced  again, 
and  the  singular  mark  allowed  to  remain.  As  it  be- 
gan to  attract  attention  from  passers-by,  a  magnolia 
shrub  was  set  out  to  partially  disguise  it. 

After  Harvey  had  finished  his  series  of  visits  to 
the  house,  he  was  followed  by  his  wife  and  daughter, 
who  had  taken  the  matter  of  decorating  and  furnish- 
ing particularly  into  their  own  hands.  It  may  be 
fair  to  say  that  Miss  Angelica  devoted  her  chief  at- 
tention to  her  own  apartments.  She  succeeded  at 
last  in  getting  a  sitting-room  done  to  her  satisfaction, 
in  pear-wood  and  gray  silk  plush  ;  and  her  bed-room 
in  flowered  silk  chintz  and  gilt,  this  last  of  a  charm- 
ing general  pink  effect. 

Mrs.  Hodman  Harvey  summoned  this  popular  ar- 
ranger of  interiors,  then  that.  She  gave  a  room  to 
each;  then  got  one  to  going  over  the  work  of  the 
other  ;  and  embroiled  herself  more  or  less  with  all. 
She  was  aided  by  the  suggestions  of  Aureolin  Slab, 
who,  though  pained  to  the  heart  by  the  exterior  of 
the  house,  deemed  it  his  duty  to  save  it  to  what  ex- 
tent he  could  from  a  similar  vandalism  within.  Then 
came  the  dealers  in  the  smaller  objects  of  art.  who 
filled  the  rooms  as  full  as  they  could  hold  of  their 
elegant  wares.  The  result  was  of  a  magnificence 
that  the  inexperienced  in  New  York  houses  would 


104  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

hardly  have  inferred  from  without.  It  was  finished 
so  as  to  be  ready  for  occupation  by  the  family  some- 
what before  the  opening  of  the  watering-place  season. 

There  was  time,  for  example,  for  a  notable  en- 
tertainment which  took  the  form  of  a  reception  to 
the  President  of  the  United  States.  The  merchant 
prince  considered  a  house-warming,  to  which  the 
world  should  be  invited  on  a  liberal  scale,  a  promis- 
ing means  for  the  increase  of  his  popularity.  It  hap- 
pened that  the  President  was  to  be  in  town  for  the 
dedication  of  some  public  monument,  and  accepted 
his  invitation. 

If  Mrs.  Rodman  Harvey  had  cares  beyond  the  ken 
of  most  mortals  even  at  ordinary  times,  it  may  be 
conceived  that  they  were  not  diminished  now.  Her 
husband,  hearing  her  complaints,  suggested,  as  he  had 
suggested  before,  that  the  experiment  of  taking  Ot- 
tilie  to  write  her  letters,  and  otherwise  assist  in  light- 
ening her  burdens,  should  be  tried. 

"  Oh,  you  cannot  have  relations,"  objected  the 
brilliant  Angelica,  impetuously.  "  There  are  their 
dreadful  feelings ;  and  they  always  expect  to  be 
treated  as  equals." 

The  idea  apparently  did  not  meet  with  Mrs.  Har- 
vey's favor,  perhaps  because  it  had  not  at  first  been 
her  own.  She  was  led  by  it,  however,  to  include  Otti- 
lie  in  the  long  list  of  guests  for  the  "  reception."  She 
sent  up  to  Vassar  for  her,  asking  her  to  come  down 
the  Saturday  before  — the  entertainment  being  set 
for  Tuesday.  It  would  be  an  easy  way,  at  any  rate, 
to  discharge  obligations  the  niece  might  fancy  them 
to  be  under  on  the  score  of  kinship. 

Ottilie's  invitation  came  late.  She  was  asked  to 
reply  by  telegraph,  and  to  start  immediately.     Could 


A   FLAW   IN   A   CORNER-STONE.  105 

she  have  had  the  option  of  writing,  she  might  have 
framed  excuses  ;  but  a  refusal  by  telegraph  must  be 
curt  and  ungracious  at  best. 

She  had  had  repeated  instructions  from  her  mother 
that  it  was  a  Christian  duty,  as  it  were,  both  to  her- 
self and  her  family,  to  receive  in  an  affable  spirit 
any  overtures  that  might  come  from  this  influential 
source.  She  remembered  the  arguments  of  Bain- 
bridge,  and  she  remembered  the  real  Gerome  she  had 
seen  purchased.  The  Hasbrouck  girls  themselves, 
who  surprised  her  meditating  over  the  letter,  urged 
her  to  go  by  all  means.  The  opportunity  to  meet 
the  President,  they  said,  was  not  to  be  neglected. 
She  set  out,  therefore,  and  the  feud  in  the  family  was 
to  this  extent  healed.  She  knew  very  well  what  she 
should  do  for  the  Hasbroucks,  could  she  ever  gain 
sufficiently  the  confidence  of  her  uncle,  their  creditor. 

The  grand  mansion  proved  for  her  a  near  realiza- 
tion of  the  rich  properties  she  had  dreamed  of  in  her 
histories  and  romance.  "The  bedstead  in  my  aunt 
Alida's  room,"  she  wrote  home,  ministering  to  the 
eager  curiosity  that  would  naturally  be  entertained 
there,  M  is  of  carved  teak-woocl,  with  a  canopy  of  vel- 
vet and  lace,  and  it  stands  upon  a  platform.  I  am 
told  by  her  French  maid,  Rosine,  that  it  cost  six 
thousand  dollars.  All  the  toilet  articles  in  my  cousin 
Angelica's  chamber,  are  of  ivory  and  silver,"  etc., 
etc.,  etc. 

There  was  a  fire-place  in  the  wide  entrance-hall, 
with  vases  and  plates  of  Italian  majolica  above  it, 
warm  rugs  before  it,  and  on  each  side  a  vase  of  cloi- 
sonne, taller  than  Ottilie's  head.  A  flat  porphyry 
bowl,  standing  on  a  pedestal  of  old  Japanese  bronze, 
as  large  as  a  baptismal  font>  was  for  the  cards  of 
visitors. 


106  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

She  climbed  a  stair-case  so  broad  and  easy  that  the 
climbing  was  hardly  an  effort.  It  had  lamps  alter- 
nately of  silver  and  porcelain,  upheld  by  bronze  fig- 
ures, and  it  had  tubs  of  tropical  plants  along  its  plat- 
forms. In  the  picture-gallery  her  Ger6me,  with 
plenty  of  other  masters  who  pleased  her  even  better, 
when  she  came  to  know  them,  was  now  securely  es- 
tablished. The  immediate  approach  to  the  gallery 
was  by  two  short  flights  of  marble  steps,  with  a  mar- 
ble balustrade  between.  On  the  way  you  passed  the 
soft  bather,  Musidora,  in  marble,  faced  by  a  twisting 
Samson  Agonistes. 

The  principal  drawing-room,  upholstered  in  silks 
and  plushes,  in  sulphur  yellow,  was  in  the  lightly 
severe  yet  elegant  Louis  XVI.  style.  It  had  a  small 
gallery  projecting  for  musicians.  A  lesser  drawing- 
room  in  damasked  rose-color,  was  fantastic  with  the 
gilded  rococo  scroll-works  of  Louis  XV. 

It  was  her  cousin  Selkirk  who  interested  himself 
to  go  about  with  Ottilie  and  explain  the  puzzling  va- 
riety of  styles.  She  found  a  gravely  rich  Henri  II. 
library  hung  in  old  tapestries.  The  dining-room  had 
straight  chairs  and  dark  Italian  cabinets,  so  rich  with 
carving  that  no  vacant  space  of  the  natural  wood 
was  seen.  Besides  the  regular  collection  in  the  li- 
brary, there  was  in  a  small  reception-room  a  series  of 
choice  volumes  in  white  vellum,  inclosed  in  ebony 
cases. 

There  were  wrought  and  embroidered  tissues  of 
silks  and  wools,  crystal  chandeliers  with  wax  tapers, 
porcelain  lamps,  their  light  softened  by  colored  silk 
shades,  and  tables  to  contain  them  covered  with  vel- 
vet and  bordered  with  Venetian  lace.  There  were 
screens,  clocks,  musical  boxes,  statuettes,  objects  of 


A  FLAW   IN   A   CORNER-STONE.  107 

ivory,  pearl,-  ormolu,  blue  China,  and  Limoges  en- 
amel. The  whole  was  one  revel  of  glowing  color  and 
luxury  unstinted  by  thought  of  expense. 

Ottilie  was  impressed,  too,  by  her  cousin  Angelica. 
She  saw  her  first  leaning,  in  a  becoming  attitude,  on 
the  back  of  a  fauteuil,  in  one  of  the  rich  parlors. 
She  bowed  down  in  ingenuous  reverence  before  the 
many  accomplishments  of  this  young  woman,  her 
costly  education,  her  travels,  her  reception  at  foreign 
courts.  So  many  advantages,  such  beauty,  and  so 
high-bred  an  aspect  could  hardly  consist,  it  seemed  to 
her,  with  any  but  the  most  dignified  and  worthy 
character. 

She  did  not  quite  understand  how  her  aunt  need 
really  be  so  agitated  over  the  management  of  her  ser- 
vants, and  all  the  rest.  She  thought  one  of  the  first 
privileges  of  wealth  would  have  been  to  purchase  im- 
munity from  vulgar  cares.  "Aunt  Alida  "  took  her 
on  her  tours  of  inspection  about  the  house,  bustling 
now  with  preparations  for  the  festival.  She  made 
her  a  sharer  in  many  confidences,  and  found  here  a 
jewel  and  there  a  ribbon  which  she  forced  upon 
her  with  a  lavish  open-handedness  which  proved  one 
of  her  traits. 

"There  are  times,"  she  confided  to  her  hearer, 
"  when  it  seems  as  if  I  must  put  on  my  bonnet  and 
leave  all.  I  would  fly  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  in 
search  of  but  one  moment  of  blessed,  blessed  peace. 
Fourteen  mortal  servants,  the  last  thought  of  each 
of  whom  is  to  do  what  they  were  engaged  for,  and 
the  first  to  persecute  me." 

The  tasks  of  the  bond- slaves  of  Egypt,  it  appeared, 
the  sufferings  in  Dante's  Inferno,  were  but  a  baga- 
telle to  her  own. 


108  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

Yet  Mrs.  Rodman  Harvey  retained  a  plump  come- 
liness. Though  often  threatening,  she  did  not  put 
on  her  bonnet  for  any  more  desperate  purpose  than 
to  go  out  with  it  wherever  it  was  needed  conforma- 
bly to  the  usages  of  the  best  society. 

Nor  did  Ottilie  reconcile  herself  at  once  to  the  full- 
grown  men  in  livery.  They  seemed  clumsy  and  out 
of  place  in-doors.  She  would  have  preferred,  for  her 
simpler  tastes,  neat,  trim  maid-servants.  The  Eng- 
lish butler,  William  Skiff,  with  his  baldness  and  false 
teeth,  was  as  imposing  as  a  bishop.  Alphonse,  the 
footman  and  waiter,  had  a  sort  of  grenadier  aspect. 
He  should  have  presented  arms  when  you  came  in 
at  the  door.  If  he  had,  that  would  have  been  some- 
thing worth  while.  The  family  had  brought  him 
back  with  them  from  their  last  tour  in  Europe. 

Angelica  had  a  cultivated  taste  in  servants.  She 
declared  the  most  simply  horrible  thing  in  the  world 
to  be  a  waiter  with  a  moustache,  instead  of  the  con- 
ventional side  whiskers  and  shaven  lip.  This  view 
of  the  horrible  did  not  strike  Ottilie  as  quite  of  the 
profundity  to  be  expected  from  such  a  source. 

On  the  evening  of  Ottilie's  arrival  there  came  in 
to  play  billiards  with  the  merchant  in  his  sumptuous 
new  billiard-room,  his  friends  Hackley  and  Hastings. 
These  two  men  were  cronies  of  Rodman  Harvey,  so 
far  as  so  staid  a  person  could  be  said  to  have  cronies. 
Both,  as  it  appeared,  resided  in  the  vicinity.  With 
Hastings  came  his  wife,  who  was  young  and  pretty. 
She  tripped  up-stairs  to  the  boudoir  of  Mrs.  Harvey 
for  a  confidential  chat,  while  their  husbands  were 
knocking  about  the  ivory  balls  below.  Ottilie  was 
presented  to  her.  Quite  an  intimacy  sprung  up  be- 
tween them,  which   was  increased  the  next  day  by 


A   FLAW   IN    A   CORNER-STONE.  109 

the  young  girl's  admiration  for  two  pretty  children 
whom  she  was  accorded  the  privilege  of  seeing  put 
to  bed.  It  ended  in  her  being  practically  given  into 
the  charge  of  this  lady  for  the  entertainment.  Her 
aunt  and  cousin  were  to  have  their  hands  extremely 
full.  She  wTas  not  to  receive  with  them,  but  to  be 
simply  a  minor  guest  among  the  great  number  in- 
vited, —  an  arrangement  that  suited  her  taste  ex- 
actly. 


IX. 

"  TO  MEET  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES." 

The  list  of  invitations,  "To  meet  the  President 
of  the  United  States,"  as  the  inscription  on  an  im- 
pressive large  square  of  pasteboard  ran,  was  suffi- 
ciently large  to  include  Russell  Bainbridge.  The 
young  man  considered  it  desirable  to  appear  at  the 
reception  of  a  patron,  who  might  be  a  more  useful 
patron  yet.  He  had  a  certain  interest,  besides,  in 
the  new  chief  magistrate  of  the  country,  then  but 
lately  installed  into  office. 

He  first  paid  a  call  or  two,  dropped  in  at  a  regular 
weekly  reception  of  the  same  date,  and  arrived  at 
Rodman  Harvey's  at  about  eleven  o'clock.  A  fine, 
drizzling  rain  was  falling.  The  glowing  roof  of  the 
picture-gallery  could  be  seen  from  a  distance,  lighting 
up  the  humid  atmosphere  above  it.  A  striped  canvas 
awning  stretched  down  from  the  portal  of  the  house 
and  across  the  sidewalk.  Similar  awnings  were  out 
to-night  at  the  fashionable  restaurants  and  theatres. 

By  the  awning's  mouth  lingered  a  few  spectators, 
kept  in  check  by  a  policeman,  watching  patiently  un- 
der their  umbrellas  the  arrival  of  the  guests.  The 
elegant  men  got  down,  with  the  collars  of  their 
great-coats  turned  up  and  silk  mufflers  about  their 
throats.  Wonderful  creatures,  in  voluminous  draper- 
ies of  white,  pale  pink,  blue,  and  saffron,  followed. 
Their  skirts   were  gathered   close   about  them,   and 


TO  MEET  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  Ill 

they  alighted  upon  the  carpeted  stone  with  dainty 
rebounds.  The  carriages  were  ranged  in  an  inter- 
minable file  on  either  side  of  the  street.  Their  wet 
varnish  glistened  in  the  gas-light.  The  gas-lights 
themselves  were  reflected  mysteriously  from  the  wet 
sidewalks,  as  if  black  streams  of  fathomless  depth, 
somehow  curiously  solidified  to  bear  the  weight  of 
the  figures  which  trod  them. 

The  gloom  without  gave  but  the  more  effect  to  the 
brightness  within.  Two  orchestras  were  playing: 
one  in  the  music-gallery  of  the  principal  drawing- 
room  ;  the  other  in  a  spacious  temporary  apartment 
formed,  for  the  convenience  of  the  dancers,  by  roof- 
ing over  the  yard  at  the  rear  of  the  mansion.  The 
banisters  of  the  grand  staircase  were  adorned  with  a 
wreathing  of  smilax  and  roses.  A  deep  cornice  and 
wainscot  belt  of  white  flowers,  starred  with  others  in 
color,  extended  around  the  small  drawing-room. 
Over  the  spot  where  the  President  stood,  with  the 
hostess  and  her  daughter  beside  him,  hung  a  mam- 
moth ball  of  violets. 

No  expense  had  been  spared,  as  the  saying  is. 
Some  elderly  guests,  brushing  up  their  mature  whis- 
kers at  the  mirror  in  the  dressing-room,  endeavored, 
in  a  practical  way,  to  compute  it.  There  were  those 
who  said,  — 

"  Harvey  is  not  doing  all  this  without  an  object, 
either.  He  has  his  designs  upon  the  distinguished 
guest  of  the  evening.  He  hopes  to  obtain  from  him 
the  office  of  secretary  of  the  treasury.  He  has  long 
intrigued  for  it.  This,  chiefly,  is  what  his  late  polit- 
ical activity  means.  He  considers  a  seat  in  Congress 
from  the  foremost  district  of  New  York,  as  a  step- 
ping-stone.    No  doubt  his  not  having  taken  part  in 


112  THE   HOUSE    OF   A    MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

national  affairs  before  has  been  construed  against 
him." 

"The  health  of  the  present  incumbent  is  not 
good,"  said  one  speaker.  "  In  case  of  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  successor,  it  is  eminently  proper  that  a 
secretary  should  be  chosen,  for  once,  from  the  com- 
mercial metropolis  of  the  country.  Who  more  suit- 
able, in  that  event,  —  so  Harvey  thinks,  —  than  him- 
self?" 

"  He  knew  the  President  of  old,  it  seems,"  said 
another.  "  He  employed  him  in  some  railroad  case 
in  the  West.  Well,  I  do  not  say  that  Harvey  would 
be  my  choice,  but  stranger  things  have  happened  than 
that  he  should  get  it." 

UI  see  that  General  Burlington  is  here,"  remarked 
another.  "He  and  the  President  were  in  the  war 
together.  I  suppose  he  has  laid  aside  his  difference 
with  Harvey  for  the  time  being,  to  come  and  pay  his 
respects.  He  is  quite  right.  He  is  a  level-headed 
person,  Burlington." 

These  elderly  gossips  were  not  above  comments, 
also,  on  feminine  points,  and  on  the  "current  social 
scandals.  They  retailed  two  late  Huyskamp  esca- 
pades. A  granddaughter  had  run  away  with  an  ad- 
venturer, whom  she  had  been  in  the  habit  of  meet- 
ing in  Central  Park,  instead  of  going  to  Madame 
Bellefontaine's  school,  for  which  she  started  with  her 
books  regularly.  The  second  Mrs.  Huyskamp,  Mrs. 
James,  had  also  been  seen  coming  out  of  a  cemetery 
with  her  head  on  the  shoulder  of  Northfleet,  a  man 
much  younger  than  herself. 

"  That  I  deny  in  toto"  said  Watervliet,  availing 
himself  of  an  opportunity  to  repeat  a  witticism  which 
had    met  with    success   at  the   club.      "It  stands    to 


TO  MEET  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.      113 

reason.  You  cannot  have  old  heads  on  young  shoul- 
ders." 

The  indifferent  feeling  with  which  Bainbridge  had 
come  to  the  party  changed  to  something  much  more 
like  pleasure  when  he  unexpectedly  found  Ottilie 
there.  That  young  woman  colored  a  little  on  meet- 
ing him.  She  was  reflecting  as  to  what  he  would 
think  of  her  vacillation  of  purpose. 

She  was  with  Mrs.  Hastings,  who  had  presented 
to  her  a  number  of  young  men.  Among  these  was 
young  Stillsby,  whose  repute  for  wisdom  was  not  of 
the  most  profound.  She  had  been  impressed  at  first 
by  this  person's  air  of  fashion,  then  wondered,  and 
been  amused,  at  the  character  of  many  of  his  sayings. 
The  new  acquaintances  hovered  about  her,  and  Bain- 
bridge at  first  could  have  her  to  himself  but  little. 

"  You  did  not  write  to  me,  as  you  promised,"  he 
said,  seizing  one  of  the  opportunities.  "  I  have  lived 
for  nothing  else  ever  since." 

"  You  have  lived  very  well  then,  apparently.  Did 
I  promise  to  write  ?  Well,  I  have  been  busy.  It  is 
but  a  short  time  now  till  our  Commencement.  And 
by  the  way,  since  you  remind  me  of  it,  I  have  used 
your  pamphlets  in  the  preparation  of  my  graduating 
essay.     It  is  to  be  4  The  Reformation  of  Criminals.'" 

"  Bravo  !  At  last  we  have  the  matter  settled.  So 
you  are  to  graduate.     And  then  — ?  " 

"  I  return  to  my  home  in  the  West.  Glad  enough 
I  shall  be  to  get  back  to  dear  old  Lone  Tree  again." 

"I  am  sorry  for  that. —  I  thought  perhaps  you 
might  be  intending  to  come  here.  —  Your  uncle  would 
not  leave  you  a  great  fortune,  I  dare  say,  but  Tie 
would  not  be  bad  to  live  with.  If  you  should  get  on 
as  well  with  the  rest  as  with  him,  I  think  you  mi^ht 


114  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

count  on  a  very  tolerable  existence.  Why  not  re- 
turn ?  " 

"  Nobody  has  axed  me,  sir,"  she  said,  misquoting 
the  old  ballad.  Then,  as  if  the  subject  were  not  a 
wholly  comfortable  one,  she  changed  it,  with  "  Well, 
you  cannot  deny  that  this  is  palatial." 

"  Oh  yes,  I  can.  Do  not  limit  my  capacity  for 
denying  too  hastily.  In  the  palace  there  should  be 
a  noble  poverty  of  effect.  They  understand  it  in 
Italy.  There  should  be  a  few  handsome  things  along 
the  walls,  and  the  central  spaces  left  free,  for  the 
noble  occupants  to  walk  up  and  down  in,  with  their 
hands  behind  their  backs,  planning  statecraft,  wars, 
and  matrimonial  alliance,  with  the  princes,  their 
neighbors." 

They  were  favorably  posted  for  observing  the  guest 
of  the  evening. 

"  I  think  I  should  wish  to  be  like  that,"  said  Ottilie, 
contemplating  him.  If  I  were  a  man  I  should  want 
to  be  very  ambitious,  and  have  as  many  bowing  down 
before  me  as  possible." 

"  Oh,  the  point  is  to  be  something  ;  not  to  make  a 
lot  of  people  think  you  are,"  said  Bainbridge. 

It  was  a  fine  and  somewhat  startling  sentiment, 
from  him,  but  he  delivered  it  with  an  air  implying 
that  the  object  was  of  course  impossible,  and  nothing 
less  was  worth  striving  for. 

The  President  was  in  some  sense  a  type  of  his 
kind.  He  had  risen  honorably  from  humble  begin- 
nings. He  had  been  farmer's  lad,  school- master,  gen- 
eral in  the  civil  wars,  representative,  governor  of  his 
State,  and  diplomat.  He  was  a  person  of  sterling 
worth  ;  yet  he  was  hardly  of  merit  sufficient  in  itself 
to  command  the  imposing  recognition  he  had  received 


TO  MEET  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.      115 

He  had  been  chosen  rather  as  a  compromise  candi- 
date, in  the  discords  of  greater  leaders,  who  often  de- 
stroy one  another,  under  our  system,  and  rarely  attain 
the  coveted  prize.  His  whole  presence  disclosed  a 
calm,  well-regulated  life.  He  was  of  a  good,  robust 
figure,  and  neat  and  plain  in  attire.  His  dignity  was 
of  a  genuine,  simple  sort,  arising  apparently  from 
consciousness  of  his  exalted  success,  but  it  had  traces 
of  angularity.  He  gave  all  who  were  presented  to 
him  a  somewhat  stiff  shake  of  the  hand.  He  had  no 
great  fund  of  ingenious  or  gallant  discourse  at  com- 
mand, but  uttered  now  and  then  one  of  those  mild 
pleasantries,  which  pass  on  such  an  occasion  and  from 
such  a  source  as  brilliant  scintillations  of  wit. 

As  the  pressure  of  new  arrivals  slackened,  Rodman 
Harvey,  the  host,  was  to  be  seen  conversing  with  him 
confidentially,  and  even  giving  slight  taps  on  his 
sleeve,  by  way  of  emphasis. 

"  Ah  yes,  indeed,"  said  lookers  on,  "  he  will  have 
his  secretaryship,  sure  enough." 

Angelica,  slender,  erect,  with  along,  simple  "train  " 
of  rich  material  stretched  out  behind  her,  stood  like 
some  rare  proud  bird.  Mrs.  Harvey  was  in  brocaded 
satin,  its  front  embroidered  with  seed  pearls,  garnets, 
and  other  precious  stones.  From  a  collar  of  large 
diamonds  of  the  purest  water  depended  a  splendid 
ornament  of  opal  and  diamonds.  Her  full  bosom, 
heaved  with  the  pride  natural  to  such  an  occasion. 
She  was  all  smiles  and  comely  condescension.  When 
the  guests  had  finally  been  received,  she  took  the  arm 
of  the  President  and  walked  through  the  rooms.  An- 
gelica, had  withdrawn  with  Kingbolt  of  Kingboits- 
ville,  to  take  a  turn  in  the  dancing-halL 

It  was  at  such   times   that   Rodman   Harvey  was 


116  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

especially  content  with  his  spouse.  This  was  her  ele- 
ment. It  was  what  he  had  had  in  mind  when,  at  a 
certain  stage  of  his  increasing  prosperity,  caught  by 
the  subtile  taste  for  fashion  and  display,  he  had 
married  the  widow  of  the  elegant  Charles  Battledore. 
Perhaps,  as  he  contemplated  her,  his  thoughts  may 
have  gone  back  to  an  earlier  helpmate  in  the  day  of 
small  things, — to  her  with  whom  he  had  trodden 
ingrain  carpets,  and  sat  upon  horse-hair  furniture. 
Conference  with  that  wife  had  always  been  a  matter 
of  the  calmest  reason.  She  had  had  no  petulances  of 
a  spoiled  child,  no  preposterous  stormings-about,  aris- 
ing from  slight  cause  and  abating  as  easily.  She  had 
been  inclined  to  look  upon  his  growing  wealth  as  a 
delusion  and  a  snare,  and  had  hardly  increased  her 
scale  of  personal  expenses  to  the  last. 

The  young  children  by  that  marriage  were  dead, 
with  her.  He  thought  of  the  group  buried  away  to- 
gether in  the  rural  graveyard  of  his  native  place.  He 
had  been  accustomed  to  alight  from  the  train  there, 
on  summer  days,  at  long  intervals,  to  pass  an  hour 
beside  their  graves.  There  Avere  wooden  urns  on  the 
posts  of  the  gate,  through  which  you  entered  from 
the  village  green.  The  head-stones  were  stained  now 
and  awry,  the  low  mounds  grown  over  with  tall  grass 
and  wild  flowers.  How  very  far  away  that  earlier 
life  all  seemed  !  Could  it  be  that  he  had  ever  been 
bound  in  such  intimate  ties  with  so  different  a  circle  ? 
Was  it  to  be  that  in  some  vague  future  state  the  re- 
lation was  again  to  be  renewed  ? 

The  dancing-hall  afforded  Bainbridge,  also,  a  pre- 
text for  taking  Ottilie  away.  Dancing  was  an  ex- 
ercise which  he  disparaged  with  some  other  things, 
but  his  partner  found  him,  to  her  surprise,  no  mean 


TO  MEET  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.     117 

adept  in  it.  He  even  aided  her  in  a  new  step,  of 
which  she  had  got  an  inkling  from  the  girls  at  school. 
In  consideration  of  this  she  could  almost  have  con- 
doned some  of  his  errors. 

They  found  seats  afterwards  in  the  picture-gallery. 
It  so  happened  that  it  was  under  an  orange-tree,  by 
the  marble  balustrade.  Ottilie  had  an  unusual  ani- 
mation and  color,  and  fanned  herself  vigorously.  The 
painter  Millboard,  wandering  about,  with  little  to  do, 
having  few  acquaintances  in  the  assembly,  made  a 
furtive  note,  on  his  thumb-nail  as  it  were,  of  her  ap- 
pearance as  she  reclined  in  a  fauteuil  with  her  fleecy 
white  draperies  scattered  about  the  nucleus  of  her 
slim  waist,  arms,  and  head. 

"  Do  see  me!"  she  said,  admiring  herself  whimsi- 
cally. "  One  would  think  I  had  always  been  used  to 
such  magnificence,  I  take  it  so  calmly.  And  as  for 
my  poor  dress,  for  the  last  hour  I  have  quite  forgot- 
ten it." 

"  You  will  find  that  the  fashion  reporters,  if  they 
be  worth  their  salt,  have  not  been  so  remiss.  It  will 
certainly  appear  in  the  papers." 

"That  shows  how  little  you  know  about  such 
tilings.  It  cost  —  but  never  mind  what  it  cost;  and  I 
had  to  make  a  good  part  of  it  myself.  If  you  want  to 
see  dressing,  look  at  my  cousin  Angelica.  I  am  glad 
if  you  think  it  pretty,  though.  It  is  what  I  am  to 
wear  on  Commencement  day.  By  good  luck  it  was 
just  done,  or  I  could  not  have  come." 

This  was  a  further  touch  in  a  Cinderella  aspect  of 
her  situation,  which  had  pleased  him  from  the  first. 

w*  Oh,  an  orange-tree  ■  "  she  babbled  presently, 
catching  sight  of  the  boughs  above  her  head,  and 
raising  her  fan  to  touch  them.     u  Do  tell  me  some- 


Il8  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

thing  about  the  orange-groves  and  the  manner  of 
your  life  there  !  " 

"  Shall  I  tell  you  about  the  silver  blossoms  and  the 
golden  fruit  which  are  sometimes  both  on  the  trees  at 
the  same  time,  when  last  year's  crop  has  not  been 
wholly  picked  ?  There  was  a  tree  on  my  place  which 
bore  one  year  seven  thousand  oranges.  What  do 
you  think  of  that  ?  " 

"  At  that  rate  you  must  have  made  an  immense 
fortune." 

"  It  was  not  in  my  time,  though,  —  no  such  luck. 
It  was  only  a  tradition.  In  the  first  enthusiasm  of 
my  venture  I  wrote  some  letters  for  a  newspaper, 
which  were  complimented  as  one  of  the  most  practi- 
cal treatises  on  orange-culture  that  had  yet  appeared. 
When  I  got  back,  I  hastened  to  secure  the  entree  to 
Mrs.  Stoneglass'  literary  receptions  on  the  strength 
of  it.  Really,  though,  it  was  pretty  grim  satire,  so 
far  as  I  was  concerned.  I  was  like  one  of  those  gen- 
iuses who  go  about  lecturing  on  4  How  to  Get  Rich,' 
and  have  to  jump  out  of  the  back  windows  of  their 
hotels  for  lack  of  money  to  pay  their  bills." 

"  You  did  not  succeed  very  well,  then  ?  I  had  in- 
ferred so." 

"  No,  I  did  not  succeed.  One  year  a  hurricane, 
such  as  had  not  been  known  for  half  a  century,  ruined 
me  ;  the  next  a  frost,  such  as  had  not  been  known 
for  another  half  a  century.  You  might  have  heard  h 
ton  of  coal  fall —  but  scarcely  anything  less  — on  this 
last  occasion,  as  I  woke  in  the  morning  and  shouted 
to  the  hands  to  rush  and  apply  restoratives.  But  it 
was  all  to  no  purpose.     I  took  my  leave  of  Florida." 

"  And  then  ?  —  as  you  ask  of  me." 

"  I  came  into  some  more  money  presently,  on  the 


TO  MEET  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.     119 

death  of  my  grandfather.  Did  I  ever  happen  to  tell 
you  that  I  was  brought  up  by  my  grandfather  ?  He 
bore  me  no  grudge,  it  seemed,  for  the  failure  of  the 
orange  speculation." 

"  It  was  n't  your  fault,"  interrupted  Ottilie. 

"  It  is  n't  for  your  faults  that  people  generally  bear 
you  grudges.  I  went  next  into  the  manufacturing  of 
a  lawn-mower.  I  put  one  half  of  the  money  in  that 
and  loaned  the  other  half,  as  a  temporary  accommo^ 
dation,  to  a  very  dear  friend.  The  lawn-mower  wass 
embarrassed  by  a  crisis  that  overtook  certain  indus- 
tries about  that  time.  The  temporary  accommodation 
extended  to  my  friend,  for  whom  I  would  have  done 
anything  under  the  sun,  and  in  whose  equal  devotion 
to  me  I  had  implicit  confidence,  proved  of  such  per- 
manence instead  that  not  only  was  it  not  returned 
when  it  would  have  saved  the  lawn-mower,  but  I 
have  never  seen  it  since.  This  dear  friend  was  hope- 
lessly insolvent,  and  knew  it  at  the  time.  He  cleared 
off  to  Colorado,  and  that  is  the  last  I  have  seen  of 
him  from  that  day  to  this.  And  now  you  have  my 
whole  financial  story.  It  is  a  little  monotonous,  is  it 
not,  —  three  such  mischances  ?  Nevertheless,  it  was 
as  I  tell  you." 

"  That,  then,  is  what  makes  you  so  cynical  ?  " 

"  I  do  not  admit  that  I  am  cynical;  but  naturally 
experiences  of  the  kind  hardly  improve  one  's  tem- 
per." 

"  You  do  not  think,  perhaps,"  she  suggested,  "that 
business  may  not  have  been  your  strong  point?" 

"  No,  I  cannot  say  that  I  had  thought  so.  My 
idea,  on  observing  the  countless  thousands  pouring 
into  the  professions,  was  to  try  and  do  something 
more  distinctly  practical  and  useful  in  the  world. 
Where  was  the  fault  with  that?" 


120  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

"  Well,  you  must  try  again,  and  a  great  many 
times  more." 

"  At  my  age  one  does  not  try  very  much  more. 
He  takes  what  is  sent  him.  There  are  certain  ad- 
vantages in  the  law,  however.  It  is  a  way  of  getting 
even.  It  affords  delightful  opportunities  for  rascal- 
ity." 

"  At  your  age?"  Ottilie  exclaimed,  "  Why,  you 
are  a  very  young  man  !  " 

Indeed!  Was  it  thus  he  impressed  her?  They 
were  fast  approaching  terms  of  equality,  truly.  This 
came  of  being  betrayed  into  gravity,  and  making 
confidences.  He  had  not  made  them  before,  he  could 
not  tell  when.  By  way  of  recovering  ground  he  be- 
came as  flippant  as  possible. 

Ottilie  could  hardly  credit  the  occurrence,  in  this 
society,  of  doings  which  would  better  have  suited  her 
idea  of  the  times  of  the  Borgias.  The  suiciding,  duel- 
ing, opium-eating,  and  eloping  Huyskamps,  of  whom 
she  heard,  were  of  the  most  excellent  stock,  if  that 
counted  for  anything.  The  grandfather,  from  whom 
their  money  was  derived,  had  been  a  beau  in  two 
hemispheres,  the  companion  of  Louis  Philippe  and 
Ludwig  of  Bavaria.  And  that  the  actors  in  these 
dramas  should  still  be  welcome  on  terms  of  equality 
seemed  to  her  monstrous. 

"  You  must  know  that  this  putting  down  of  people 
is  not  so  easy,"  said  Bainbridge,  in  his  worldly  tone. 
"  We  good  ones  are  not  strong  enough.  The  bold 
and  bad  override  us,  and  there  is  nothing  to  do  but 
to  take  it  out  in  browbeating  the  weak  and  timid. 
At  the  same  time,  I  think  it  doubtful  whether  the 
upper  circle  of  society  is  so  much  worse  than  thoso 
below." 


TO  MEET  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.     121 

"  Worse  ?  "  exclaimed  Ottilie  with  ardor.  "  Ought 
it  not  to  be  a  hundred  times  better  ?  With  every 
comfort  and  luxury,  with  opportunity  to  travel,  to  be 
educated,  to  be  cultured  and  perfected  on  every  side, 
it  ought  to  admit  of  no  comparison." 

She  put  back  some  strands  of  her  hair  from  her 
temples  and  leaned  forward,  in  the  earnestness  of  her 
argument. 

"  That  is  a  point  of  view  worthy  of  note,  but  I 
doubt  if  you  will  find  wealth  and  luxury  to  have  ever 
worked  that  way.  First,  there  is  the  period  of  hard- 
ship and  striving;  then,  when  the  end  is  attained,  the 
splendid  efflorescence,  the  decadence.  For  my  part, 
I  ask,  k  Why  is  this  prejudice  against  decadences?' 
They  are  the  autumn,  the  legitimate  fruition,  of  all 
that  has  preceded.  Why  is  tlie  battle  so  much  bet- 
ter than  the  victory?  The  poets  and  orators  are  con- 
tinually giving  us  to  understand  that  the  struggle 
for  freedom  is  particularly  fine,  while  the  peace  and 
plenty  by  which  it  is  naturally  followed  are  of  no  ac- 
count whatever." 

"Oh,  can  you  never  be  serious?"  said  Ottilie,  look- 
ing at  him  half  wearily. 

Mrs.  Hastings  now  came  to  find  her  charge  to  take 
her  to  the  supper-room.  The  tables  were  so  heavily 
laden  with  the  plate  and  viands  of  the  costly  banquet 
as  to  have  required  to  be  sustained,  so  the  rumor  ran 
—  by  extra  braces  underneath.  Haricot's  men,  in 
unexceptionable  evening  dress,  responded  calmly  to 
the  demands  made  upon  them. 

"  JJeux  glaces  !  "  they  cried,  "  Trois  glaces"  pass- 
ing over  these  delicacies  to  the  thicket  of  reaching 
hands. 

From  time  to  time  others  made  their  way  through 


122  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

the  throng,  bearing  aloft  new  supplies  of  game,  oys- 
ters, and  salads,  with  deprecating  cries  of  "  Please ! 
please  !  " 

Mrs.  Eglantine  approached  the  discreet  financial 
magnate,  Bloomfield,  taking  his  salad  by  himself  at 
a  corner  of  the  mantel-piece,  and  said,  "  I  want  you  to 
do  something  with  my  Missouri  6's.  It  is  the  only 
chance  I  ever  have  to  get  at  you.  You  know  every- 
thing. And  do  you  think  Devious  Air-Line  is  going 
higher  ?  " 

Mrs.  Sprowle  said  to  Mrs.  Clef,  finding  that  lady 
by  chance  in  a  chair  beside  her,  "  Why  do  we  never 
have  a  gentleman  for  President  ?  "  To  which  Mrs. 
Clef  replied  good-naturedly,  "  Why,  indeed  ?  " 

Then  Mrs.  Sprowle,  stopping  Kingbolt,  who  was 
hurrying  by  with  some  refreshment  for  Angelica 
Harvey,  asked  him  a  question  about  his  friend  St. 
Hill.  "  He  is  such  an  agreeable  man,"  she  said,  — 
"  of  the  best  old  Southern  stock,  which  I  have  always 
highly  esteemed.     I  do  not  see  him  here  to-night." 

"  He  does  not  come  here,  I  believe.  There  is  some 
misunderstanding,  some  difficulty  of  a  business  sort 
between  him  and  Harvey  ?  " 

"  Ah !  indeed  ?  I  must  ask  him  about  it,"  she 
said,  and  Kingbolt  passed  on. 

Next,  Austin  Sprowle,  who  appeared  to  have  the 
most  liberal  leave  of  absence  from  the  side  of  his 
betrothed,  came  up  to  pay  compliments,  by  way  of 
passing  the  time,  to  Mrs.  Clef,  who  received  them  as 
affably  as  though  she  had  never  said  a  disparaging 
word  of  him. 

"How  delightfully  you  are  looking!"  he  said. 
"  We  have  hardly  met  since  last  year,  at  Saratoga. 
Saratoga  is  very  good  for  us  New  Yorkers.    We  need 


TO  MEET  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.     123 

something  of  that  kind,  a  certain  —  a  —  er  — varia- 
tion ;  but  we  must  not  drink  the  waters,  —  we  must 
not,  really."     His  tone  was  almost  tragic. 

"  When  are  we  going  to  have  another  of  our  little 
dinners  at  the  Four-in-Hand  ? "  Mr.  De  Longbow 
Rowley  was  asking  of  Ada  Trull. 

u  Sh  !  All  that  is  over  for  the  present.  Somebody 
has  been  telling  mamma  that  from  eleven  in  the 
morning  till  eleven  at  night  is  too  long  for  us  to  be 
out  with  the  drags.  She  has  heard  that  Mrs.  Callo- 
way, our  chaperon,  was  younger  than  most  of  the 
girls;  and  that  some  of  you  young  men  drank  too 
much  champagne." 

Bainbridge  managed  to  bring  about  another  meet- 
ing with  Ottilie  later  in  the  evening,  just  before  the 
young  girl's  departure.  Her  prospect  of  going  home 
after  her  school  days,  and  probabl\r  returning  to  New 
York  no  more,  was  again  touched  upon. 

"  Of  course  I  could  never  get  you  to  write  to  me, 
on  any  pretext  ?  "  said  the  young  man. 

u  No,"  said  Ottilie. 

"  Suppose  we  agree  to  think  of  each  other  ?  Sup- 
pose we  fix  a  certain  time  and  hour  when  you  are  to 
think  of  me,  and  I  of  you.  Perhaps  some  mysterious 
electrical  influence  will  pass  between  us.  Remark- 
able scientific  phenomena  may  take  place.  It  is  worth 
trying." 

"  There  is  a  difference  in  longitude.  I  should  have, 
to  remember  you  at  eight  forty,  or  nine  twenty,  or 
something,  when  it  was  ten  here.  I  could  never  cal- 
culate it." 

"  This  is  a  very  sad  and  solemn  occasion,  then.  As 
likely  as  not  I  shall  never  see  or  hear  from  you 
again,"  he  said. 


124  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

"N  —  ever,"  with  a  mock  melancholy  waving  of 
the  head  from  side  to  side. 

Bainbridge  murmured,  by  way  of  parody,  — 

"  Two  souls  with  numerous  different  thoughts, 
Two  hearts  that  beat  as  two." 

"  But  perhaps  you  think  I  do  not  care,"  he  con- 
cluded. 

"  Of  course  I  do  not.     Why  should  you  ?  " 

"  I  think  I  had  begun  to  take  a  great  liking  to 
you." 

Ottilie  would  perhaps  have  been  touched  by  this 
had  she  thought  him  sincere,  but  she  knew  his  rail- 
lery too  well.  "  I  wish  I  could  say  that  I  returned 
the  compliment,"  she  replied. 

"  Why  can  you  not?  " 

"  Well,  you  have  tried  to  patronize  me  a  good  deal, 
for  one  thing,"  she  said,  casting  about  for  reasons. 
"  And  then,  I  have  hardly  ever  heard  you  utter  a 
sentiment  I  knew  to  be  in  earnest." 

"  Oh,  is  that  it  ?"  reflectively.  "  But  in  your  case 
I  assure  you  I  am  earnestness  itself." 

"  So  much  the  worse  !  Nothing  is  less  defensible 
than  to  be  heavy  on  a  trifling  subject." 

In  such  tantalizing  fashion,  and  with  a  bright 
smile  and  a  shake  of  the  hand,  she  was  gone.  It  had 
been  a  pleasant  acquaintance,  and  this  was  the  end 
of  it. 

The  thoughts  of  Russell  Bainbridge  drifted  after 
her  not  a  little,  from  his  office,  up  in  the  mansard  of 
the  Magoon  Building,  where  his  new-fledged  law 
practice  was  developing.  lie  was  of  course  as  inca- 
pable of  foolish  sentiment  now  as  the  Magoon  Build- 
ing itself.      But  she  had  been  a  bright,  piquant  per- 


TO  MEET  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  125 

son,  with  excellent  traits.  Wherever  she  went,  he 
wished  her  well. 

Meanwhile,  —  for  we  need  not  leave  at  once  the 
scene  of  rare  festivity  at  Rodman  Harvey's,  —  the 
tete-d-tete  which  the  daughter  of  the  house  had 
granted  Mr.  Kingbolt  had  been  in  progress.  The 
young  man  had  made,  it  seemed,  but  a  short  visit  to 
his  estates,  and  then,  for  reasons  best  known  to  him- 
self, returned.  The  painter  Millboard  could  hardly 
fail  to  include  Angelica  in  his  hovering  admiration. 

A  curiously  simple  skirt  of  lustrous,  cream-white 
satin  fell  down  over  her  limbs,  which  its  folds  deli- 
cately outlined.  The  waist  had  no  other  support 
than  a  small  strap  over  each  shoulder ;  but  she  wore 
above  this  a  jacket  of  rare  lace,  amber-hued  with 
age.  She  had  cast  loosely  about  her  neck  a  gossamer 
scarf,  which  she  drew  together  from  time  to  time  as 
it  became  slightly  disarranged.  At  some  places  the 
leaf  and  snow-crystal  patterns  of  the  lace  seemed 
daintily  printed  upon  the  smooth,  firm  flesh.  Her 
arms  were  of  a  more  pinkish  tinge  than  her  face. 

They  were  lovely  arms.  They  seemed  capable  of 
weaving  dangerous  spells,  even  from  a  distance,  and 
Kingbolt  of  Kingboltsville  had  ventured  into  fatally 
close  proximity. 

"  I  don't  know  when  I  have  enjoyed  a  waltz  so 
much  before,"  he  protested,  passing  a  cambric  hand- 
kerchief over  his  forehead.  "  I  had  about  given  up 
dancing,  to  tell  the  truth.  I  have  hated  to  ask  an 
American  girl  to  dance  this  long  time.  One  does  not 
reverse  abroad,  you  know,  and  I  had  quite  got  out  of 
the  way  of  it." 

"  To  what  shall  I  ascribe  this  exemption  in  my 
favor?  Your  reversing  is  perfect ;  I  have  no  fault  to 
Gnd  with  it." 


126  THE  HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

"  Oh,  you  would  turn  anybody's  head.  And  of 
course  a  man  is  not  going  to  let  slip  the  opportunity 
to  put  his  arm  around  the  most  beautiful  girl  in  two 
hemispheres,  if  he  can  help  it." 

Miss  Angelica  had  two  very  distinct  manners.  She 
could  assume,  when  she  chose,  —  and  she  often  chose, 
—  a  chilling  dignity ;  but  with  her  intimates  she 
professed  to  like  natural  people,  and  to  hate  nothing 
so  much  as  "the  stiff  kind."  At  this  time,  too,  she 
was  permitting  herself,  towards  some  favored  individ- 
uals, a  certain  sisterly  policy,  warranted,  she  deemed, 
by  her  new  situation.  But  this  talk  of  Kingbolt's 
seemed  trenching  on  the  bounds  of  the  permissible 
naturalness.  She  called  him  "  Wretch !  "  however, 
and  then  inquired,  — 

«  Why  do  you  waste  such  things  on  an  old  engaged 
girl  ?  Why  do  you  not  go  and  say  them  to  Daisy 
Goldstone  or  Ada  Trull  ?  I  suppose  you  know  that 
I  am  ( another's,'  as  the  novelists  say  ?  " 

"  Oh  yes,  I  know  it." 

"  Why  !     You  say  it  as  if  you  were  sorry." 

"  I  am,  — damnably,"  he  broke  out  with  a  changed 
manner. 

The  profane  epithet  had  been  half  muttered,  but  his 
listener  heard  it.  It  appeared  that  she  had  led  him 
too  far.  She  had  no  objection  to  amusing  herself  a 
little  while  her  freedom  remained  ;  but  if  it  were 
possible,  after  all  they  had  both  seen  of  the  world, 
that  he  wrere  going  to  annoy  her  with  an  absurd  ear- 
nestness, if  he  were  going  to  look  and  talk  in  such  a 
savage  way  as  that,  it  was  high  time  to  turn  over  a 
new  leaf  with  him,  and  that  instantly.  In  the  project 
she  had  formed  for  the  disposal  of  her  hand,  she  was 
fixed  and  inflexible. 


TO  MEET  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  127 

Kingbolt  had  already  begun  some  further  words 
in  the  new  vein.  Angelica  looked  about  for  a  pre- 
text to  repel  them.  It  happened  that  Dr.  Wyburd 
was  holding  forth  near  by.  Mr.  Hackley,  who,  on 
account  of  his  intimacy  with  Rodman  Harvey,  as- 
sumed an  unusual  air  of  geniality  and  good-fellow- 
ship in  this  house,  was  his  principal  listener.  The 
doctor  was  saying,  — 

"  When  you  hear  the  first  part  of  a  good  story, 
you  are  pretty  sure  to  hear  the  last.  It  comes  to  you 
from  different  sources,  and  you  finally  put  all  the 
parts  together.     Now  I  recollect  a  certain  "  — 

"  Oh,  an  anecdote  !  an  anecdote  ! "  exclaimed  An- 
gelica, jumping  up,  and  joining  this  group.  She 
glanced  back  at  Kingbolt  as  she  did  so,  as  a  sign 
that  he  might  follow  if  he  would.  She  returned 
presently  to  her  mamma.  Whatever  small  contact 
she  may  have  had  with  the  misguided  young  million- 
aire during  the  rest  of  the  evening  was  marked  by 
the  calmest  indifference. 

The  mamma  took  it  upon  herself  when  the  guests 
had  gone,  and  she  was  alone  with  her  daughter  in  her 
sitting-room,  in  the  small  hours  of  the  morning,  to 
complain  of  the  character  of  the  tete-a-tete  the  latter 
had  allowed  Kingbolt.  She  had  observed  it  while 
moving  through  the  rooms  on  the  arm  of  the  Presi- 
dent. 

"  I  could  see,"  she  said,  "  that  Austin  was  not  at 
all  pleased.     It  will  not  do  to  go  on  so." 

Angelica,  nettled,  through  her  consciousness  of  rec- 
titude, refused  to  either  explain  or  deny. 

"  If  Austin  is  not  pleased  with  what  pleases  me,  so 
much  the  worse  for  him,"  she  said.  "I  will  not  be 
found  fault  with.     Leave  me  in  peace  !  " 


128  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

And  she  retired  petulantly  up  the  staircase  to  her 
bed-chamber  in  flowered  silk  chintz  and  gilt. 

Mrs.  Rodman  Harvey  murmured  after  her  a  for- 
mula to  which  she  was  much  given.  It  was  intended 
to  convey  a  sense  of  an  obstinacy  out  of  the  common  : 

"  She  is  a  regular  Harvey." 


X. 

IN  MAGOON  BUILDING  OFFICES. 

The  Magoon  Building  stood  in  that  part  of  lower 
Broadway,  near  the  head  of  Wall  Street,  whose  im- 
posing structures  loom  nearer  heaven  every  day. 

In  the  Magoon  Building  were  the  offices  of  coal, 
brick,  cement,  salt,  and  silver-mining  companies ; 
offices  of  attorneys,  architects  and  trustees  of  estates, 
offices  of  locomotive,  sleeping-car,  iron,  and  dynamite 
works.  There  was  the  branch  office  of  the  Devious 
Air-Line  Railway,  and  of  the  Eureka  Tool  Works  of 
Kingboltsville.  Young  Kingbolt  was  sometimes  met 
with  coining  to  this  latter. 

"What  are  you  doing  now,  Russ?"  he  asked 
Bainbridge,  whom  he  had  known  at  college,  and 
passed  on,  without  waiting  for  an  answer. 

There  were  offices  that  seemed  never  to  be  entered 
but  by  stealth,  others,  as  that  of  the  Prudential  Land 
and  Loan  Company,  always  widely  open,  to  show 
their  elegant  mahogany  counters.  Feet  were  never 
done  clacking  over  the  tesselated  pavement,  nor  the 
elevators  flitting  mysteriously  with  their  human 
freights  from  story  to  story. 

The  day  after  we  saw  him  last,  Bainbridge  re- 
turned from  lunch  an  hour  later  than  usual.  He 
stood  a  few  moments  at  his  office  window,  gazing  out 
at  the  view.  It  commanded  a  corner  of  Trinity 
church -yard,  the   historic   graves   of  which,  robbed 


130  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

now  of  gloom,  are  invested  only  with  a  sentiment  of 
gentle  melancholy.  The  striking  of  the  clock,  and 
the  chimes  in  the  belfry,  which  rang  for  service  daily 
at  three,  came  across  to  him  at  that  height  almost  on 
a  level.  An  expanse  of  roofs  beyond,  studded  with 
innumerable  chimneys,  like  another  cemetery  in  its 
way,  was  terminated  at  the  water's  edge  by  a  palisade 
of  masts  and  spars.  Over  in  the  Jerseys  could  be 
seen  the  steam  of  a  locomotive  or  two,  speeding  out 
into  the  country,  thrown  up  in  solid  puffs,  like  clods 
produced  by  a  rapid  burrowing. 

"  The  tempter  no  doubt  puts  us  young  and  needy 
ones  up  into  these  high  places  with  an  object  of  his 
own,"  mused  the  young  man.  "  Nevertheless,"  he 
went  on  presently,  "  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  and 
the  glory  thereof,  though  interesting,  certainly  do 
not  offer  from  here  overpowering  attractions.  So  get 
thee  behind  me,  Satan." 

A  knock  came  at  the  door,  and  a  senatorial-looking 
man,  with  a  dome-like  bald  head,  gray  moustache,  and 
clothing,  which,  though  shabby,  had  a  touch  of  surviv- 
ing gentility,  entered.  It  was  one  Gammage,  of  whom 
a  mention  has  been  made.  His  figure  at  a  desk  in 
the  Prudential  L.  and  L.  Company's  office  was  worth 
much  more  than  the  small  stipend  it  commanded, 
from  the  pure  point  of  view  of  dignity.  It  was  a 
very  decayed  dignity  now,  however.  A  roving  eye, 
an  unsteady  gait,  and  an  unusual  lightness  of  speech 
in  one  who  was  habitually  serious,  oppressed  by  a 
sense  of  his  position,  told  the  pained  eye  the  story  of 
a  relapse  into  a  ruinous  habit.  The  face  of  this  man, 
instead  of  being  flushed,  was  of  a  marble  pallor,  as 
though  his  drams  and  opiates  took  hold  upon  his 
very  vitals. 


IX   MAGOOX   BUILDING   OFFICES.  131 

"Purely  social  call.  Don't  dis  —  turb  yourself," 
he  said.  "  Xo  business  on  hand.  Just  dropped  in  to 
see  how  my  young  friend  was  getting  along."  He 
seated  himself  without  being  asked,  and  appeared 
in  no  haste  to  go.  He  had  lunched,  he  said,  with  a 
very  pleasant  fellow,  Jocelyn  the  builder.  Jocelyn, 
it  seemed,  had  been  again  abusing  Rodman  Harvey, 
apropos  of  the  account  in  the  newspapers  of  the  en- 
tertainment to  the  President. 

"  Jocelyn  is  right,  too,"  said  Gammage.  "  Rodman 
Harvey  is  a  bad  man,  —  a  hard  man,  if  ever  there 
was  one." 

"  What  did  he  ever  do  to  you,  Gammage,  that  you 
should  speak  of  him  in  such  a  way  ?  What  do  you 
know  about  him  ?  "  Seemingly  this  was  the  oppor- 
tunity for  securing  information  of  which  he  had  been 
in  search. 

"  He  would  not  give  me  a  situation,  when  I  was 
first  down.  Maybe  I'd  have  been  different  then. 
He  knew  me  when  I  held  my  head  up  with  the  best. 
He  was  not  always  so  easy  in  his  circumstances,  either, 
nor  so  high  and  mighty  and  strait-laced.  Certain 
things  came  under  my  obsiv — my  ob  —  servation. 
Because  things  are  passed  over,  that  is  not  to  say  they 
are  forgotten.  I  suppose  he  could  afford  to  pay  me 
for  keeping  quiet,  Rodman  Harvey  could.  You  would 
not  want  to  go  into  it,  would  you  ?  "  he  proposed,  in 
a  maudlin  way. 

u  Go  into  what  ?  "  inquired  Bainbridge,  with  an  in- 
judicious sternness. 

"Oh,  of  course,  I  did  not  mean  —  I  am  too  high- 
toned  "  —  the  shattered  visitor  apologized. 

He  rambled  thereupon  from  the  subject  and  was 
only  drawn  back  to  it  with  difficulty.       The  ques- 


132  THE    HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

tioner  heard  then  a  story  in  which,  as  in  that  of 
McFacld,  the  names  of  General  Burlington  and  Hack- 
ley,  now  of  "  Hackley  and  Valentine,"  occurred  as 
persons  who  knew  something  to  the  detriment  of  Rod- 
man Harvey.  It  was  incoherent  and  fragmentaiw  and 
highly  improbable.  Not  to  give  it  in  the  inebriate's 
mind  an  exaggerated  importance,  he  abandoned  any 
attempt  to  make  a  lucid  system  of  its  obscurities,  pro- 
posing to  defer  inquiry  into  these,  should  it  seem  de- 
sirable, till  Gammage  could  be  met  with  in  a  sober 
mood.  He  only  asked  whether  the  story  had  been 
repeated  to  any  others,  —  to  his  employer,  St.  Hill, 
for  instance. 

"  No,  not  as  I  know  of,  not  lately.  Talking  with 
Jocelyn  brought  it  up.  You  don't  suppose  I  talk  to 
Mr.  St.  Hill,  anyway,  do  you?  He's  too  super  — 
psilious.  He  takes  no  interest  in  poor  folks.  —  Be- 
sides, I  have  my  suspicions,  also,  as  to  the  usefulness 
of  the  business  transacted  in  that  company's  office. 
I  would  not  wonder,  what  is  more,  if  there  was  a  pur- 
pose afoot  to  supplant  me  in  my  clerkship.  What 
does  he  mean  by  advertising  for  young  men  with 
small  capital,  to  put  up  as  deposits,  I  'd  like  to 
know  ?  " 

"  I  advise  you  not  to  go  back  in  your  present  con- 
dition," said  Bainbridge.  "  You  will  certainly  lose 
your  place.  You  had  better  go  home  and  return  to- 
morrow, with  the  best  excuse  you  can  offer." 

"Why  do  you  not  take  me  to  task?  Why  do 
you  not  plead  with  me?  "  urged  the  wretched  man, 
breaking  into  a  kind  of  luxury  of  self-abasement 
under  the  cold  demeanor  of  his  friend. 

"It  is  too  late  for  that  now,  Gammage.  Your 
most  solemn  promises  are  of  no  avail.  I  must  give 
you  up." 


IN   MAGOOX   BUILDING   OFFICES.  133 

"Don't  say  that!  Don't  say  it  yet!  You  were 
the  only  one  to  give  me  another  chance.  You  took 
hold  of  me  when  I  was  ragged  and  starving.  You 
told  me  there  was  n't  one  man  in  a  thousand  looked 
as  well  as  I  did  and  that  the  streets  was  no  place  for 
me.  Didn't  you  say  that?  You  put  me  out  among 
the  farmers  of  Westchester  to  sober  off,  and  I  did 
odd  jobs  and  writing  for  them.  After  that,  at  last, 
you  looked  about  and  found  me  a  place  —  and  I  — 
I  lost  it,  and  then  you  got  me  this.  Did  n't  you  do 
it  ?  Were  n't  you  the  only  one  who  would  trust  me 
again  ?  " 

"  Well,  and  this  is  my  return  for  it." 

These  were  certainly  illogical  doings  for  one  pro- 
fessing so  wholesale  a  bias  against  charity,  and  even 
the  ordinary  humane  impulses. 

"  But  this  is  the  last  time.  Something  will  stop 
me  yet.  Don't  say  it  is  too  late.  Men  have  been 
stopped.  You  will  see."  And  Gammage,  partially 
sobered,  shambled  away  overwhelmed  with  dejection. 

In  the  course  of  a  fortnight  he  had  not  again  ap- 
peared. An  inquiry  for  him  at  his  office  by  Bain- 
bridge  was  answered  by  Fletcher  St.  Hill  in  person. 

u  We  had  to  let  him  go.  Frankly,  we  had  to 
4  bounce  '  him,"  said  the  manager,  emerging  from  an 
inner,  private  room,  and  airily  dusting  the  sleeve  of 
his  coat  in  a  consequential  way  with  a  handkerchief 
as  he  talked.  "  He  was  away  two  or  three  days  every 
now  and  then,  and  always  came  back  in  a  beastly, 
shaking  condition.  He  was  of  little  use  to  us  at  the 
best.  He  had  warnings  enough  and  this  time  we  de- 
cided to  put  an  end  to  it  once  fur  all." 

Bainbridge  was  led  also  by  sympathetic  interest  to 


134  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

Charlton  Street,  where  the  man  had  lodged.  The 
people  there  said  that,  as  well  as  they  knew,  he  had 
gone  back,  after  a  deplorable  debauch,  to  the  West- 
chester farmers.  He  had  told  them  that  he  wished 
to  put  himself  out  of  harm's  way.  The  details  needed 
to  complete  Gammage's  story  in  case  he  had  had  a 
mind  to  verify  them,  were  thus  placed  effectually  be- 
yond his  reach,  with  that  of  others. 

A  new  incumbent  was  shortly  installed  at  the  desk 
which  Gammage  had  occupied.  Mr.  Cutler,  formerly 
with  Rodman  Harvey  &  Co.,  was  now  seen  lending 
the  splendor  of  his  crimson  braces,  his  ornate  scarf- 
pin  and  sleeve-buttons,  to  the  service  of  the  Pruden- 
tial Land  and  Loan  Company.  He  was  said  to  be  a 
young  man  who  had  lately  married,  and  come  into 
control  of  some  little  property. 

Though  Mr.  St.  Hill  had  dusted  his  sleeve  with  his 
handkerchief  airily  enough,  he  was  a  prey  at  this  time 
to  unpleasant  reflections.  His  company  had  adver- 
tised itself,  throughout  the  small  country  newspapers 
and  elsewhere,  as  being  the  only  one  offering  invest- 
ments which  returned  from  two  to  four  per  cent,  a 
month,  and  the  only  one  always  standing  ready  to 
buy  in  its  own  shares,  at  par,  on  demand.  There  had 
been  at  one  time  a  considerable  stir  of  interest  in  re- 
sponse, but  this  had  gradually  subsided.  One  annoy- 
ing circumstance  after  another  had  happened,  and  the 
enterprising  manager  saw  himself,  as  he  had  unfortu- 
nately often  seen  himself  before,  beginning  to  be  in 
uncomfortable  straits. 

If  we  may  be  let  into  a  secret,  too,  the  responsibil- 
it}^  in  the  company  was  not  so  divided  that  great  aid 
and  comfort  could  be  sought  elsewhere.    The  impres 


IN   MAGOON   BUILDING    OFFICES.  135 

sion  ran  that  Fletcher,  of  the  firm  name  of  Fletcher, 
St.  Hill  &  Co.,  was  an  elderly  capitalist,  of  high 
character  and  great  wealth,  residing  in  London,  and 
attending  to  the  company's  affairs  there.  The  "  Co." 
was  thought  to  indicate  partners  of  a  corresponding 
sort.  x\s  the  fact  was,  however,  the  Prudential  Land 
and  Loan  Company  consisted  solely  of  Mr.  F.,  or 
Fletcher,  St.  Hill.  The  fictitious  London  nabob  had 
grown  up  out  of  no  more  substantial  basis  than  a 
comma.  A  comma  had  unfortunately  crept  in  —  as 
errors  will  happen  even  in  the  best  regulated  com- 
panies —  between  the  two  names  of  the  advertiser, 
and  somehow  got  itself  perpetuated.  As  to  the 
"  Co.,"  that  is  a  common  enough  assumption,  to  give 
a  fuller  roundness  and  completeness  to  a  firm  name 
and  style.  It  is  often  for  the  satisfaction  of  such  as 
feel  themselves  vaguely  more  comfortable  with  the 
idea  that  they  have  a  number-  of  persons  to  look  to 
instead  of  one 

Mr.  St.  Hill  took  out  to-day  some  yellow  old  letters 
to  which  reference  has  been  made.  Harvey's  desire 
for  the  congressional  nomination  was  making  talk, 
and,  as  bearing  upon  this,  he  found  them  highly  satis- 
factory. 

"  It  is  true  that  Kingbolt  has  not  recovered  from 
his  absurd  passion  for  Angelica  Harvey,"  he  said, 
"  and  would  make  a  precious  row  if  he  knew  of  my 
using  them.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  why  need  he 
know?  The  chances  are  twenty  to  one  that,  whether 
I  succeed  or  fail,  the  secret  will  rest  between  Rod- 
man Harvey  and  myself.  He  cannot  afford  to  spread 
the  scandal  about,  and  whether  7  should  care  to  or 
not  would  be  a  matter  to  be  determined  afterwards." 

His  meditations  resulted  in  a  conclusion.     "  Yes," 


136  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

he  said,  "  I  will  make  them  serve  my  purpose.  But 
now  as  to  the  means  ?  " 

He  cast  about  for  the  most  desirable  means  from 
day  to  day  while  driven  up  town  in  his  coupe,  rid- 
ing his  friend  Kingbolt's  saddle-horse  "  Jim  "  in  the 
Park,  while  calling  at  the  fine  houses  on  the  Avenue 
to  which  he  had  obtained  the  entree,  or  dining  at  Del- 
monico's  or  at  the  Empire  Club.  His  accomplish- 
ments, his  knowledge  of  the  world,  his  risque  stories, 
and  an  impressive  habit  he  had  of  permitting  himself 
always  the  best  of  everything,had  gained  him  much 
consideration.  It  was  a  consideration,  however,  which 
had  been  warmest  at  first,  and  was  of  a  declining 
order. 

His  reflections  upon  this  matter  were  of  such  a  de- 
liberation, however,  and  one  delay  after  another  so 
interposed,  that  he  had  taken  no  step  up  to  the  de- 
parture of  the  Harvey  family,  with  the  exception  of 
its  head,  to  their  villa  at  Newport,  and  till  Kingbolt 
had  set  off  in  his  yacht  for  the  coast  of  Labrador, 
leaving  him,  St.  Hill,  in  possession  of  his  bachelor 
quarters  and  other  comfortable  appurtenances. 

When  the  coast  was  thus  clear  he  dispatched  a 
short  note  to  Rodman  Harvey  reopening  the  subject 
of  his  claim. 

"  The  animosities  of  the  war,"  he  wrote,  "  have 
now  so  far  passed  away,  such  time  has  elapsed  for 
mature  reflection,  that  I  trust  my  application  may 
be  met  in  a  different  spirit.  Since  the  validity  of 
the  debt  has  never  been  disputed,  I  venture  to  hope, 
from  a  person  of  such  recognized  standing  in  the 
community,  from  one  to  whom  his  reputation  must 
be  dear,  a  voluntary  reversal  of  your  former  judg- 
ment." 


IN   MAGOOX    BUILDING    OFFICES.  137 

Very  delicately,  like  fingering  the  hair  trigger  of  a 
deadly  weapon,  the  matter  of  the  late  receipt  of  some 
old  letters  from  the  plantation  on  the  Ashley  River 
was  touched  upon.  "  It  is  the  pleasant  interest  I  find 
in  these,"  he  continued,  "as  recalling  the  cordial  re- 
lations that  had  once  subsisted  between  yourself  and 
my  father,  General  Rockbridge  St.  Hill  of  Savannah, 
which  has  especially  moved  and  encouraged  me  to  a 
renewal  of  this  appeal  at  this  time." 

Rodman  Harvey  returned  much  the  same  kind  of 
blunt  refusal  as  years  before.  "  I  know  of  no  such 
claim  valid  in  law,"  he  said,  "  and  I  must  decline  to 
be  interested  in  any  personal  circumstances  or  remi- 
niscences of  the  writer  whatever." 

It  was  apparent,  St.  Hill  thought,  that  he  did  not 
remember  the  contents  of  his  old  letters  with  suffi- 
cient distinctness,  or  that  he  did  not  believe  in  their 
existence  at  all.  Could  it  possibly  be,  though,  that 
he  meant  open  defiance? 

Under  the  influence  of  a  slightly  more  favorable 
turn  in  his  affairs  which  relieved  his  pressing  needs, 
he  allowed  more  time  to  elapse.  Autumn  arrived, 
and  the  election  was  at  hand.  Should  this,  too,  be  al- 
lowed to  pass,  his  opportunity  would  be  lost  to  him 
for  good.  Too  wily  to  put  upon  paper  what  might 
be  construed  into  the  criminal  offense  of  threats  with 
the  purpose  of  extorting  money,  he  sought  and  ob- 
tained a  personal  interview  with  the  merchant  prince 
at  his  Broadway  store. 

Meanwhile  Harvey  had  been  enjoying  the  society 
of  a  modest  young  person,  some  casual  information 
from  whom,  as  it  happened,  was  to  have  an  important 
bearing  on  the  interview  in  question  when  it  should 


138  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

take  place.  This  was  no  other  than  his  niece,  Ottilie. 
She  had  read  her  essay,  and  been  on  the  point  of 
starting  for  home,  when  she  was  met  by  the  entreaty, 
almost  command,  to  come  and  aid  in  taking  charge  of 
her  uncle's  house  for  the  summer.  The  invitation 
was  conveyed  by  the  hands  of  the  butler,  William 
Skiff.  Ottilie's  father,  a  more  thick-set  and  belliger- 
ent-looking copy  of  Rodman  Harvey,  who  was  pres- 
ent at  the  Commencement,  stoutly  refused  at  first, 
then  gave  a  grudging  assent.  He  accompanied  her 
to  New  York,  and  spent  a  night  or  two  under  his 
brother's  roof.  During  this  visit  Ottilie  being,  as  it 
Were,  a  hostage,  an  unbroken  truce  reigned  between 
the  brothers. 

It  was  Harvey's  desire  to  entertain  in  the  new 
mansion,  during  the  absence  of  the  family,  some  per- 
sons of  a  minor  sort  necessary  to  him  in  his  political 
campaign,  who  could  be  flattered  so  much  in  no  other 
way.  His  wife  and  daughter,  had  they  undertaken 
such  a  mission,  would  hardly  have  abstained  from  a 
disdainful  air  which  must  have  been  fatal  to  the  end 
in  view.  He  wished  Ottilie,  therefore,  to  preside  at 
his  table  instead,  and  have  a  general  oversight  of  tho 
house  with  its  reduced  force  of  servants,  Mrs.  Ambler, 
the  housekeeper,  still  remaining. 

Ottilie  imagined  in  the  faces  of  the  Hasbroucks  — 
who  were  to  spend  the  summer  economically  at  a 
farm  in  the  Catskills  —  a  mute  reproach,  when  they 
learned  of  her  own  destination.  The  very  first  use 
she  made  of  some  slight  influence  over  her  uncle, 
which  she  fancied  she  possessed,  was  an  attempt  to 
conciliate  him  in  their  favor  as  she  had  proposed. 
He  peremptorily  refused  and  denied  all  the  positions 
she  assumed.     But  it  was  in  a  description  that  she 


IN  MAGOON   BUILDING   OFFICES.  139 

gave  him  of  her  friends,  what  they  had  suffered  from 
others  as  well,  and  who  it  was  that  had  injured 
them,  that  some  items  concerning  St.  Hill  came  out, 
which  proved  of  value  in  the  interview,  as  has  been 
said. 


XI. 

EMBITTERED  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  OLD  SLAVE  DAYS. 

Advancing  a  little  the  pace  of  our  story,  —  for 
the  events  of  the  summer  must  again  be  returned  to, 
—  let  us  see  what  the  manner  of  this  interview, 
which  took  place  in  late  October,  was. 

The  merchant  prince  had  breakfasted  that  day  as 
usual,  before  the  rest  of  his  family,  whom  he  seldom 
saw  at  the  morning  meal.  The  semblance  of  pillage 
was  actively  in  progress  at  the  store  on  his  arrival. 
A  cannel  coal  fire  burned  in  his  office  grate.  He 
thrust  his  feet  into  a  pair  of  slippers,  of  a  handsome 
sort,  which  his  daughter  Angelica  had  embroidered 
for  him  in  advance  of  some*  heavy  demand  upon  his 
purse. 

He  dictated  letters  to  San  Francisco,  in  reference 
to  waste  lands  he  was  redeeming ;  to  Cincinnati,  to 
resist  the  opening  of  a  street  through  suburban  prop- 
erty ;  and  to  Chicago,  to  foreclose  a  mortgage.  He 
saw  Mr.  Minn  about  sending  an  order  for  Merrimac 
prints  at  once,  in  anticipation  of  an  ease  in  money 
which  would  enhance  prices. 

His  friend  Hackley  dropped  in  and  brought  reas- 
suring news  of  his,  Harvey's,  prospects  in  the  elec- 
tion set  for  the  first  Tuesday  in  November.  He  then 
spoke  casually  of  his  own  proposed  connection  with 
the  new  firm  to  be  constituted  upon  the  retirement  of 
Rodman  Harvey.    The  talk  was  that  Hackley  should 


EMBITTERED  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  OLD  SLAVE  DAYS.      141 

raise  a  sura  larger  than  Mr.  Minn,  in  order  to  outrank 
Minn  in  the  order  of  importance. 

"I  cannot  afford,  of  course,"  be  said,  "to  play  sec- 
ond fiddle  to  a  person  who,  however  well  up  in  the 
details  of  the  dry-goods  trade,  has  always  taken  so 
much  less  conspicuous  a  stand  in  the  community  than 
myself.  The  firm  name  must  be  Hackley,  Minn  & 
Co.,  not  Minn,  Hackley  &  Co." 

Harvey  had  put  a  number  of  advantageous  things 
in  the  way  of  Mr.  Hackley  at  various  times,  and  the 
latter  had  flattered  and  fawned  much  upon  him  in  re- 
turn. Perhaps  he  secretly  cherished  a  belief  that  it 
might  not  re; illy  be  necessary  to  secure  the  whole  of 
the  sum  proposed,  in  order  to  take  precedence  of  Mr. 
Minn  in  the  partnership,  after  all. 

Harvey  received,  next,  a  man  who  offered  him  large 
gains  for  the  use  of  his  name  in  the  directorship  of 
a  new  mining  scheme.  He  declined.  He  could  not 
afford  to  be  mixed  up  in  anything  of  a  problematic 
character.  He  bought  then  of  a  dealer,  in  such  prop- 
erty, a  new  lot  of  defaulted  bonds,  of  Western  towns 
and  cities.  With  ability  to  wait,  this  was  a  very 
profitable  investment. 

Over  a  luncheon,  brought  in  from  a  down-town 
branch  of  a  fashionable  up-town  restaurant,  he  glanced 
at  the  financial  column  of  his  newspaper.  A  report 
of  a  serious  illness  of  Hodman  Harvey  had  served  to 
depress  stocks,  notably  Devious  Air-Line,  of  which 
he  was  the  principal  holder.  Happily,  it  had  proved 
a  canard.  A  trifling  touch  of  vertigo  at  his  broker's 
office  had  been  magnified  into  a  paralytic  stroke,  and 
used  with  effect  until  the  fiction  was  exploded.  The 
shares  had  recovered,  and  even  advanced  beyond  the 
point  of  decline.     Such  notices,  in  his  regard,  were 


142  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

not  infrequent,  and  perhaps  in  no  other  way  was  his 
sense  of  power  and  self-importance  more  keenly  grat- 
ified. These  were  the  capitalist's  pleasures,  —  to  see 
his  least  movement,  an  indisposition,  a  journey,  any 
fugitive  taste  or  whim,  of  a  potent  influence  in  the 
weightiest  affairs  of  men. 

A  visiting-card  was  now  brought  in  by  a  boy  who 
sat  without,  to  answer  the  summons  of  his  sharp  lit- 
tle bell. 

"  Show  him  in,"  said  Harvey,  after  scrutinizing 
upon  it  the  name  of  a  person  with  whom  he  had 
lately  had  a  brief  correspondence,  and  Fletcher  St. 
Hill  entered. 

The  merchant  prince  scanned  his  visitor  with  a 
keen  interest  which  changed  so  quickly,  into  a  cool 
impassiveness,  that  one  would  have  hardly  said  that 
it  had  existed.  Yet  the  glance  had  served  to  recall  a 
type  of  features  which  he  had  once  known  well. 

" 1  had  the  honor  of  sending  you  a  communication, 
some  little  time  ago,  on  the  subject  of — a  —  an  in- 
debtedness," Mr.  Fletcher  St.  Hill  began,  after  hav- 
ing taken  a  seat  indicated. 

"  T  had  the  honor  of  returning  you  an  answer." 

"  It  was  naturally  a  disappointing  answer."  The 
caller  brushed  his  hat  gently  with  his  sleeve.  "  I 
ventured  to  hope  that,  with  the  freer  discussion  of 
a  personal  meeting,  there  might  still  be  hope  of 
change." 

"  You  had  not  proposed  to  undertake  legal  proceed- 
ings. That  is  satisfactory  to  know.  You  would  have 
been  several  years  too  late,  for  that.  You  understand, 
of  course,  that  you  could  have  done  so,  had  you 
availed  yourself  of  your  privileges.  War  suspends 
but  does  not  annul  indebtedness,  unless  confiscated 


EMBITTERED  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  OLD  SLAVE  DAYS.  143 

by  special  enactment,  and  this  was  not  confiscated. 
You  base  your  application  now  upon  grounds  of  "  — 

"  Simple  justice  and  consideration,  as  between  man 
and  man.  You  do  not  deny  the  original  validity  of 
the  claim.  I  find,  on  lately  arriving  in  this  commu- 
nity, that  3rou  have  the  repute  of  being  the  support 
of  many  worthy  enterprises,  a  church  member,  and  a 
person  of  integrity.  I  was  inspired  with  a  lively  con- 
viction that  you  would  not  permanently  take  refuge 
from  an  honest  obligation  behind  a  legal  technicality. 
You  have  yourself  demanded  from  debtors  at  the 
South  what  was  due  you  there  under  the  same  cir- 
cumstances. May  I  call  attention,  too,  to  the  fact 
that  I  personally  was  but  little  identified  with  the  — 
with  our"  — 

"  Rebellion,  if  that  is  what  you  mean,"  supplied 
Rodman  Harvey,  sternly. 

"  As  you  please.  I  was  very  young,  and  passed 
much  of  the  time  abroad.  I  will  further  urge  as  a 
reason  for  consideration  at  your  hands  the  situation 
in  which  I  find  myself  involved  at  this  time.  I  will 
trust  in  your  discretion  as  a  man  of  honor,  and  admit 
that  I  have  met  with  unexpected  and  serious  difficul- 
ties in  a  business  enterprise  which  I  have  undertaken 
here.  I  am,  in  short,  sir,  at  this  moment,  almost 
without  means." 

He  spread  both  hands  wide  open,  by  way  of  showr- 
ing  their  emptiness  of  resources.  He  did  not  yet 
display  resentment.  He  did  not  bluster.  This  was 
not  at  all  the  Southern  fire,  as  traditionally  under- 
stood. He  was  keeping  himself  in  check,  essaying 
first  a  policy  of  ingenuousness  and  humility,  on  the 
chance  that  this  of  itself  might  serve. 

Rodman   Harvey  turned  back  in  his  chair,  npliol- 


144  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

stered  in  Russia  leather,  in  which  be  had  turned  a 
little  away  at  first  towards  his  desk,  and  gazed  at 
his  visitor  with  a  level  directness. 

"  As  you  were  so  young  at  the  time,"  he  began,  — 
"  though  permit  me  to  remark  upon  the  expedition 
with  which  you  have  aged,  —  let  me  relate  a  small 
chapter  of  history.  There  was  owing  to  me  at  the 
South,  when  it  thought  good  to  secede  from  the 
Union,  about  a  quarter  of  million  of  dollars.  I  have 
never  recovered  so  much  of  it  as  would  pay  the  fees 
of  collection.  I  had  been  of  a  conservative,  nay, 
even  more,  of  a  friendly  bias  toward  the  South.  I 
had  never  assailed  your  '  peculiar  institution '  of  slav- 
ery." 

St.  Hill  received  this  with  a  certain  significant  ex- 
pression. 

"  I  was  one  of  those,"  the  speaker  continued,  "  who 
knew  that  slavery  had  not  been  established  in  our 
time,  but  had  come  down  as  an  inheritance.  As  to 
authorities,  texts  of  Scripture,  and  the  like,  there 
were  almost  as  many  on  one  side  as  the  other,  in 
those  days.  I  did  not  hold  the  present  generation 
guilty,  and  I  looked  to  see  the  difficulties  settled  by 
constitutional  means.  I  liked  the  Southern  people, 
and  had  confidence  in  them.  I  sent  them  my  goods, 
on  demand,  up  to  the  last  moment.  How  was  I  re- 
paid ?  By  the  basest  ingratitude,  —  a  treachery  that 
no  words  can  characterize.  They  betrayed  me  as 
unconcernedly  as  if  I  had  been  their  most  fanatic 
opponent.  I  became,  with  the  rest,  an  'alien  ene- 
my."' 

u,,The  payment  of  alien  enemies  is  treason  to  the 
state,"* "  he  read  from  a  newspaper  clipping  which  he 
hurriedly    took    from    a    pigeon-hole    in    his    desk. 


EMBITTERED  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  OLD  SLAVE  DAYS.     145 

"'•Millions  and  millions,  if  it  be  not  prevented,  may 
be  sent  to  the  enemy's  country  by  Southern  patriots, 
magnifying  with  a  narrow  and  perverted  honesty  the 
duty  of  individual  gratitude,  over  the  holier  obligation 
of  national  fidelity.''    Do  you  know  who  wrote  that  ?  " 

"No,"  said  his  hearer,  wincing. 

"  Your  father,  the  late  '  General '  Rockbridge  St. 
Hill,  of  Savannah.  It  was  sent  to  me.  His  initials 
are  appended  to  it.  Here  !  You  may  see.  He  had 
been  my  correspondent  and  intimate  friend.  None 
understood  my  condition  more  thoroughly,  and  none 
proved  viler  now  than  he.  He  it  was,  as  I  came  to 
know,  who,  by  speeches,  articles,  and  private  letters, 
organized  a  movement  for  the  general  repudiation  of 
debts.  He  wrote  to  my  debtors,  dissuading  them 
from  any  false  sympathy  for  me,  more  than  others." 

"  There  may  have  been  similar  initials.  I  have 
never  heard  that  those  were  my  father's  sentiments. 
I  certainly  recall  newspapers  which  insisted  that  in- 
dividual debts  were  on  no  account  to  be  repudiated. 
And  how  many  persons  have  there  not  been  who 
have  since  come  forward  voluntarily  and  paid  what 
they  owed  ?  "  said  St.  Hill,  making  a  show  of  argu- 
ment. 

"  The  time  to  pay  was  then,  not  now,"  cried  the 
merchant  prince,  striking  his  fist  violently  upon  his 
desk.  "  What  does  it  avail  that  a  few  should  have 
come  whining,  five  years  later,  with  the  money  in 
their  hands,  and  a  plea  for  new  credits?  I  know 
not  how  others  have  fared.  I  tell  you  only  what  hap- 
pened to  me.  It  would  have  been  '  a  narrow  and 
perverted  honesty,'  you  see,  to  have  sent  me  the 
funds  for  want  of  which  an  old  and  reputable  house 
was  tottering  to  its  fall.  I  was  made  to  suffer  the 
10 


146  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

tortures  of  the  damned.  I  was  well-nigh  ruined,  body 
and  soul." 

It  seemed  a  curious  violence  for  what  had  so  long 
passed,  even  if  there  were  conceded  to  be  excellent 
provocation.  Rodman  Harvey  possibly  thought  so 
himself,  for  he  continued  more  coolly,  though  still 
with  snapping  eyes. 

"  Instead  of  payment,  in  those  last  days,  when 
ordinary  years  of  anxiety  were  concentrated  into 
hours  and  minutes,  came  such  newspaper  clippings  as 
I  have  shown  you.  The  South  having  now  both  its 
crop  and  the  price  of  it  received  in  advance,  was  ad- 
jured to  give  of  its  fullness  only  to  its  own  glorious 
cause. 

"  Instead  of  payment  came  the  rhodomontade  of 
your  Barnwell  Rhett :  '  I  would  go  to  the  fanatic,'  he 
said,  '  the  manufacturer,  the  plunderer,  who  has  fat- 
tened upon  us  like  the  vulture  upon  garbage,  and  I 
would  tell  him  in  thunder  tones,  This  Union  is  dis- 
solved !  I  would  write  on  the  walls  of  their  banquet- 
ing-halls,  This  Union  is  dissolved.'' 

"  Instead  of  payment  came  intelligence  that  at- 
torneys would  not  aid  in  the  collection  of  debts,  that 
the  courts  were  closed  for  collections  against  citizens 
of  non-slaveholding  States.  There  was  news  of  the 
riding  on  a  rail,  and  bare  escape  with  their  lives,  of  my 
agents.  Instead  of  payment  there  were  missions  to 
Great  Britain  and  the  emperor  of  the  French,  to  open 
free  ports  and  ruin  utterly  the  4  mudsill '  merchants 
of  the  North.  Instead  of  payment  came  news  of  de- 
fault and  disaster  by  every  post  and  telegram.  Will 
you  see  now  how  all  this  was  crystallized  into  legis- 
lation ?     It  is  all  here." 

The   merchant  prince   ran   over  with  a  mumbling 


EMBITTERED  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  OLD  SLAVE  DAYS.      147 

commentary  another  batch  of  papers,  taken  from  his 
pigeon-holes. 

"  Montgomery,  —  Proceedings  of  first  Confederate 
Congress,  May,  '61,  —  payment  to  alien  enemies  for- 
bidden,—  payment  to  Confederate  treasury  author- 
ized: Richmond, — debtors  to  alien  enemies  held 
to  give  information  to  government  receiver  under 
penalty,  —  debtors  to  alien  enemies  held  to  pay  re- 
ceiver, —  and  so  on,  and  so  forth."  He  cast  the 
papers  suddenly  aside,  as  if  recognizing  that  the  argu- 
ment was  not  worth  his  pains.  'w  And  you,"  he 
went  on,  "of  the  people  who  have  done  this  to  me, 
who  gave  me  a  day  such  as  "  —  But  here  he  stopped 
with  a  final  air. 

"  I  am  to  understand  then,"  said  St.  Hill,  with  a 
flickering,  sardonic  smile,  "  that  my  application  is  not 
favorably  received." 

"  You  are  to  understand  that  I  consider  it  the  su- 
premest  effrontery.  Even  had  the  claim  been  tech- 
nically valid,  I  should  have  resisted  it  to  the  last.  I 
would  have  spent  twenty  times  the  sum,  before  you, 
or  any  of  your  blood,  should  have  benefited  from  my 
purse.  As  to  your  desiring  to  place  yourself  in  the 
list  of  my  private  benefactions,  I  fail  to  see  that  you 
are  an  orphan  asylum,  a  missionary  establishment,  or 
a  worthy  object  of  charity  in  any  way  whatever.  If 
you  are  really  in  difficulties,  with  your  fine  new  non- 
descript corporation,  of  which  I  have  heard  some- 
thing, I  cannot  truthfully  say  that  I  do  not  rejoice 
instead  of  regretting  the  fact.  Should  your  troubles 
be  but  a  tithe  of  what  I  was  made  to  endure,  then 
you  would  know  agony  indeed." 

St.  Hill  upon  this  changed  his  manner. 

M I  fear   that  you    may   not    have   sufficiently  at- 


148  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

tended  to  my  note  concerning  the  letters  of  yours 
now  in  my  possession,"  he  said.  "  They  were  not 
destroyed  at  the  time,  in  conformity  with  your  cau- 
tion contained  in  some  of  them.  They  turned  up  the 
other  day,  at  the  plantation  on  the  Ashley.  You 
know  the  old  place  well.  There  is  not  much  left  of 
it,  but  it  had  closet  room  enough,  yet,  it  seems,  to 
contain  these.  They  say  you  dropped  the  hint  to 
the  regiment  you  fitted  out  to  give  the  place  partic- 
ularly bad  usage  should  they  ever  happen  to  fall  in 
with  it.  They  did  fall  in  with  it,  and  followed  your 
instructions." 

"  I  had  attended  to  the  remark,  and  had  thought 
of  offering  you  five  hundred  dollars  for  your  pre- 
tended correspondence,"  said  Harvey. 

He  was  bending  the  caller's  visiting-card  into  el- 
lipses, or  pivoting  it  by  the  corners  between  a  thumb 
and  finger,  while  he  talked. 

"  You  cannot  yet  have  a  distinct  recollection  of 
their  contents  to  offer  so  little.  It  would  be  a  ridic- 
ulously small  sum  for  such  entertaining  matter.  I 
must  have  the  full  amount  of  my  claim." 

"  Then  I  have  nothing  further  to  say." 

"  You  have  given  me  an  abstract  of  certain  papers. 
Let  me  give  you  one  in  return,"  said  St.  Hill,  disre- 
garding this.  "  The  letters  are  all  complete  and  in 
order.  They  begin  long  before  the  election  of  Lin- 
coln, extend  through  that  agitating  period,  and  up 
to  the  very  brink  of  the  war.  Letter  one  —  if  you 
allow  me  to  display  a  few  of  a  typical  sort  —  is  a  di- 
rection to  lease  out  your  slaves,  '  House  Molly'  and 
'  Sue's  Tom,'  who  have  been  with  us,  to  a  neighbor- 
ing plantation.  Letter  two  takes  the  position  that 
the  North  and  South  are  antagonistic  in  essence,  and 


EMBITTERED  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  OLD  SLAVE  DAYS.      149 

had  better  separate  quietly,  each  going  about  its  des- 
tiny in  its  own  way. 

"In  letter  three  you  are  certain  that  there  will  be 
a  peaceful  separation,  and  you  discuss  a  proposition 
of  much  interest.  You  think  of  removing  to  the 
South,  to  become  the  leading  merchant  of  the  new 
Confederate  republic.  Charleston,  Savannah,  and 
Mobile,  when  opened  to  the  world  as  free  ports,  can 
perhaps,  one  or  all,  be  made  to  surpass  New  York. 
As  first  in  the  field,  with  ample  capital,  and  your 
large  connections  already  established,  you  may  con- 
fidently expect  to  monopolize  the  business  of  supply- 
ing the  vast  back  country,  at  the  unprecedently  low 
rates  to  prevail  under  the  new  system.  In  letter  four 
you  are  less  positive  of  non-coercion.  A  violent  sen- 
timent is  rising,  the  end  of  which  it  is  difficult  to  fore- 
see. But  the  conflict  at  the  worst  must  be  short, 
and  can  end  in  but  one  way,  —  the  success  of  the 
South.  You  dally  with  the  idea  of  removal  still. 
Blockade-running  seems  to  have  been  spoken  of  as  a 
resource,  during  the  brief  continuance  of  the  struggle, 
if  come  it  must,  with  the  scheme  above  indicated  to 
follow.  But  to  the  former  you  are  not  quite  favor- 
able. Letter  five  relates  to  a  shipment  of  arms,  '  to 
keep  down  the  niggers  with.'  This  is  the  last  in  the 
treasonable  series. 

"You  begin  almost  immediately  upon  this  com- 
plaints, and  then  unsparing  abuse,  because  some  of  our 
small  traders,  in  a  most  strange  and  alarming  crisis, 
have  not  been  able  to  comport  themselves  towards 
you  with  quite  the  clock-work  regularity  of  the  pip- 
ing times  of  peace.  —  All  this  would  sound  well  in 
a  gathering  of  your  political  friends,  would  it  not?" 
concluded  the  visitor,  by  way  of  a  summing  up. 


150  THE   HOUSE    OF   A    MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

"  You  are  a  fluent  talker,  Mr.  St.  Hill.  You  have 
interested  me  in  reminiscences  to  which  it    is   loner 

o 

since  I  have  attended.     A  thousand  dollars  for  these 
alleged  letters  of  mine." 

"  It  must  be  the  full  amount  of  my  claim,  and 
nothing  less  !  " 

"  Then,  Mr.  Fletcher  St.  Hill,"  said  the  merchant 
prince  again,  "I  must  remind  you  that  you  have  met 
with  a  very  obstinate  person.  Be  good  enough  to 
take  yourself  and  your  black-mailing  scheme  out  of 
my  sight.     There  is  the  door." 

He  turned  back  to  matters  demanding  his  atten- 
tion at  his  desk  with  a  very  offensive  air,  and  as  if 
the  subject  were  finally  disposed  of. 

"  You  will  regret  this.  —  I  shall  find  another  cus- 
tomer for  them,"  said  the  visitor,  after  a  pause,  as  he 
buttoned  his  overcoat  irresolute^,  and  prepared  to 
depart.  Greatly  chagrined  at  his  failure,  he  was  not 
sure  that  he  should  not  have  done  better  to  accept 
the  lesser  offer  made  him.  But  the  matter  was  to 
take  even  a  worse  turn  still. 

uNo  doubt,"  said  Harvey,  answering  him,  as  he 
had  not  at  first  appeared  inclined  to  do.  "  It  is  what 
I  expected.  They  will  make  some  little  stir,  in  the 
heat  of  the  campaign.  It  is  an  old  calumny,  however. 
I  suppose  I  was  not  the  only  one  who  changed  front 
in  face  of  the  wicked  attempt  to  destroy  the  govern- 
ment. At  the  same  time,  I  would  consider,  were  I 
you,  whether  there  are  any  circumstances  in  your 
own  situation  and  career  upon  which  it  would  not  be 
well  to  have  the  full  light  of  publicity  turned.  You 
know,  in  the  first  place,  though  perhaps  that  is  not 
greatly  to  the  purpose,  that  your  father  received  from 
his  own  government  the  amount  of  this  claim  you 


EMBITTERED  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  OLD  SLAVE  DAYS.     151 

come  so  impudently  to  thrust  upon  me.  You  know 
whether  he  and  yourself  were  so  well  occupied  to 
your  private  advantage,  in  the  business  of  the  Con- 
federacy with  which  you  were  intrusted,  that  you 
were  able  to  retire  after  the  struggle  with  a  hand- 
some competency,  the  whole  invested  in  the  foreign 
funds." 

"  Tut !  "  he  continued,  as  St.  Hill  gave  a  violent 
start  of  indignation.  "  Of  course  these  things  are 
not  spoken  of.  A  Southern  gentleman  emerging 
from  the  ruin  of  his  country's  fortunes  with  wealth 
despoiled  from  its  very  woes,  is  not  at  all  a  conven- 
tional figure.  You  know  whether,"  he  went  on,  "  in 
spite  of  your  alleged  tender  youth,  you  sailed  at  one 
time  as  officer  of  a  slave-ship,  taking  advantage  of 
the  new  situation  of  affairs  to  reopen  the  trade  with 
the  coast  of  Guinea.  You  may  recall,  also,  some  later 
transactions  not  altogether  of  a  reputable  sort,  —  the 
collection  of  moneys  for  a  certain  Hasbrouck  family, 
and  the  like.  You  know,  I  say,  as  I  do  not  pretend 
to,  whether  some  such  allegations  as  these  could  be 
worked  up  by  a  little  investigation  into  a  highly  un- 
pleasant form." 

St.  Hill,  having  no  longer  a  grand  stroke  in  re- 
serve, clenched  his  hands  in  a  furious  temper.  It  al- 
most seemed  as  if  a  bodily  assault  upon  Harvey  were 
imminent. 

"  You  shall  give  me  satisfaction  for  these  outrages," 
he  cried. 

But  the  merchant  prince,  showing  so  little  fear  of 
violence  that  he  still  kept  his  back  contemptuously 
half  turned,  replied,  "  If  you  mean  a  duel,  it  is  not 
the  custom  here.  Your  own  code,  too,  would  no 
doubt  interpose  obstacles,  on  the  score  of  difference 


152  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   TEIXCE. 

in  age.  All  the  satisfaction,  I  can  give  you  in  this 
matter,  I  regret  to  say,  you  have  already  obtained." 

Surely  such  a  way  of  probing  to  the  quick  the  sen- 
sibilities of  people,  even  of  an  objectionable  sort, 
could  result  only  from  a  high  sense  of  rectitude,  a 
consciousness  of  a  position  altogether  impregnable. 

St.  Hill  took  his  departure,  with  a  bitter  personal 
hatred  added  to  the  annoyance  of  his  failure.  He 
did  not  at  once  market  his  wares  elsewhere.  He  had 
found  the  means  of  offense  he  had  counted  upon  com- 
paratively idle,  but  he  would  search  for  others.  If 
there  were  any  rusted  spots  in  the  armor  of  Rodman 
Harvey's  respectability,  here  was  another  person 
ready  to  apply  to  them  the  biting  acid  of  an  enven- 
omed malice. 

The  clerks  among  their  packing-cases  without  no- 
ticed in  "  the  old  man,"  as  he  departed,  a  somewhat 
unusual  sprightliness.  He  had  relieved  his  mind,  to 
say  the  truth,  that  day,  in  a  fashion  that  gave  him 
much  satisfaction. 


XII. 

OTTILIE   HARVEY'S   ROUTINE. 

Ottilie's  position,  upon  becoming  a  member  of 
the  household  of  the  merchant  prince,  some  time  after 
the  middle  of  June,  was  of  an  indeterminate  char- 
acter. Her  uncle  treated  her  with  the  same  consid- 
eration that  he  would  have  extended  to  a  visitor  of 
his  wife  or  daughter.  Her  aunt  proposed  to  draw  out 
a  regular  schedule  of  occupations,  but  this  plan,  like 
many  others  of  that  remarkable  woman,  after  hav- 
ing been  postponed  till  her  return  from  the  country, 
was  never  realized  at  all.  Ottilie  had  some  scruples 
about  accepting  the  moderate  allowance  that  was  as- 
signed her  before  her  duties  should  seem  of  a  more 
tangible  sort. 

Her  cousin  Angelica  was  affable  in  a  condescend- 
ing way ;  but  as  the  novelty  of  her  presence  wore  off, 
tried  to  throw  upon  her  a  number  of  burdens  which 
could  hardly  have  been  included  in  her  duties  by 
any  fair  construction.  Secretly,  this  accomplished 
cousin  would  have  liked  to  treat  her  as  an  upper  ser- 
vant. 

"  Why  not,"  she  said,  "  since  my  father  pays  her  ?  " 

She  even  appeared  to  look  upon  the  allowance 
made  Ottilie,  small  as  it  was  in  contrast  with  the 
magnificent  sums  lavished  by  herself,  somewhat 
grudgingly.  She  had  that  trait  of  parsimony  so  es- 
pecially   odious    and    surprising  in   those  who    have 


154  THE    HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

never  known  either  lack  of  money  or  the  hardships 
by  which  its  acquisition  is  often  attended.  It  was 
a  trait  hardly  likely  to  be  known  to  her  masculine 
admirers,  whose  business  it  naturally  was  to  bestow 
and  not  receive.  It  was  known,  however,  to  small 
tradesmen,  and  inferiors  generally. 

Ottilie  felt  herself  stung,  too,  from  time  to  time,  by 
intangible  offenses  of  such  a  nature  that  she  could  not 
always  convince  herself  afterwards,  as  a  conscientious 
person,  that  they  had  really  existed.  The  beautiful 
and  accomplished  cousin  was  like  a  large,  lithe  cat, 
which  may  scratch  cruelly  even  when  but  stretching 
its  claws.  But  much  of  this  came  later,  though  a  hint 
of  these  small  inconveniences  is  here  conveniently  set 
down. 

Ottilie  did  not  at  all  mind  being  condescended  to 
somewhat,  at  first,  by  so  superior  and  distinguished  a 
personage. 

"  How  accomplished  you  are!  "  she  said  to  Angel- 
ica one  day,  in  a  warm  admiration,  which  was  drawn 
out  by  some  new  example  of  a  deftness  extending  to 
a  great  variety  of  subjects. 

"  Well,  I  ought  to  be,"  replied  her  cousin,  serenely 
accepting  the  compliment  as  her  due.  "  I  am  sure 
I  have  had  advantages  enough.  My  father  tells  me 
that  the  European  part  of  my  education  cost  him 
twenty  thousand  dollars  in  gold,  and  gold  was  at  a 
premium  then." 

The  reflective  mind  of  Ottilie,  besides,  would  have 
pardoned  much  in  consideration  of  a  pampered  and 
luxurious  bringing  up,  new  evidences  of  which  she 
saw  every  day.  Her  aunt  Alida  showed  her  Angel- 
ica's christening  robe  and  other  effects  of  her  tender 
years.     The  robe  was  of  the  rarest  old  lace,  —  there 


OTTILIE   HARVEY'S   ROUTINE.  155 

was  also  a  tiny  ring  set  with  a  costly  pearl,  which  had 
accompanied  it  at  the  ceremony.  The  cradle  was  of 
ivory  and  pearl,  and  had  been  covered  with  an  ermine 
quilt,  having  the  infant's  name  in  letters  formed  of 
the  black  tails.  There  had  been  two  nurses  in  those 
times ;  one  a  steady-going  Englishwoman,  the  old 
family  nurse  ;  the  other  a  robust  shepherdess,  brought 
over  from  her  home  in  the  Juras  for  this  especial  pur- 
pose. 

Then  had  followed  a  nursery-governess,  with  whom 
Angelica  had  acquired  the  French  tongue  even  earlier 
than  her  native  English ;  then  an  infantine  day- 
school  ;  and  then  the  long  course  of  education  abroad, 
varied  at  one  time  by  a  short  stay  at  a  seminary  of  a 
select  character  at  an  elm-shaded  Connecticut  village. 

Among  other  small  properties  about  which  she 
thought  worth  while  to  write  home,  though  it  would 
be  tedious  to  set  them  all  down  here,  was  a  costly  gold 
bon-bon  box,  chased  and  enameled,  which  her  cousin 
had  carried  to  school  in  her  pocket.  "  Alas  !  "  said 
this  correspondent  later,  "  when  one  sees  all  that  it 
takes  to  give  us  the  few  airs  and  graces,  the  petty 
smattering  of  things  we  can  acquire  at  the  best,  of 
what  obdurate  material  we  seem  to  be  made  !  " 

"  She  certainly  is  of  a  lovely,  what  you  might  call 
artistic,  taste  in  dress,"  wrote  Ottilie.  "  At  one  time 
you  see  her  brilliant  and  Amazonian-looking,  in  a 
cuirass  flashing  with  bugles  ;  again  in  jackets  braided 
across  the  front,  hussar-fashion.  Or  she  will  have  a 
girdle  bordered  with  gold  fringe  following  around  the 
lines  of  her  charming  figure,  which  she  knows  how  to 
pose  in  so  many  graceful  attitudes.  Again,  she  wears 
India  mulls,  and  other  such  textures,  as  soft  as  a 
summer  morning  on  our  dear  Kewaydin  Lake.  There 


156  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

is  one  white  dress,  with  embroidery  of  blue  flowers, 
and  another  of  gray  satin  with  blue  and  pink  forget- 
me-nots,  that  almost  drive  even  poor  unenvious  me 
quite  wild.  Sometimes  she  appears  with  a  Japanese 
touch  ;  then  like  a  court  lady  of  the  time  of  Jose- 
phine ;  and  again,  with  hair  rolled  high  and  pow- 
dered, and  a  dot  or  two  of  court-plaster,  like  those 
German  beauties  you  see  in  the  pictures  of  the  time 
of  Goethe  and  Mozart. 

"  Her  system  is  to  get  part  of  her  costumes  from 
Paris,  and  have  the  remaining,  possibly,  too,  the 
most  effective  part,  done  here  under  her  own  super- 
vision, or  even  —  so  far  at  least  as  some  alterations 
and  happy  new  inventions  of  the  minor  sort  go  —  by 
her  maid  Cecile,  with  the  aid  of  her  own  hands.  She 
has  a  knack  of  leadership  in  these  matters.  She  it 
is  to  whom  is  ascribed  the  first  use  of  a  bonnet  made 
of  natural  instead  of  artificial  flowers.  When  flowers 
are  not  the  mode  she  wears  at  her  belt  an  immense 
bouquet ;  when  immense  bouquets  are  in  fashion  she 
has  none  at  all.  She  adopts  certain  stuffs  which  no 
one  had  before  thought  of  using  for  costumes.  She 
has  some  made  to  her  own  order  by  the  manufactur- 
ers, and  it  is  said  they  are  told  to  break  the  loom 
afterwards,  that  the  patterns  may  not  be  duplicated. 
These  are  her  greater  feats.  She  declares  that  if  a 
striking  hat  or  costume  of  hers  were  imitated  she 
would  burn  it.  But  in  reality  she  sometimes  sells 
them  to  a  dealer  who  comes  by  the  back  stairs,  and  is 
supposed  to  have  a  ready  market  for  the  cast-oif 
finery  of  the  upper  classes  among  minor  actresses." 

Breakfast  at  the  Harveys  was  a  movable  feast. 
The  table  stood,  and  William  Skiff's  services  were 
likely  to  be  in  demand,  by  one  or  other  of  the  family, 


OTTILIE   HARVEY'S   ROUTINE.  157 

till  noon.  Angelica  took  her  ligbt  repast  in  bed,  or 
in  the  intervals  of  dressing,  assisted  by  Cecile.  Noth- 
ing could  be  more  charming  than  a  view  of  her  in  her 
robes  of  lace  and  ribbon,  as  she  reclined  with  a  cup  of 
chocolate  in  her  hand  in  one  of  her  pink  silk  chintz 
or  gray  plush  fauteuils.  Cecile  did  her  abundant  hair, 
which  fell  far  below  her  waist,  pointed  and  delicately 
stained  her  fine  nails,  laced  her  stays,  and  buttoned 
the  marvellous  boots  which  were  to  bear  her  about 
on  her  errands  of  pleasure  and  fashion  for  the  day. 

The  time  of  the  annual  departure  for  Newport  was 
close  at  hand,  and  Angelica  spent  some  part  of  every 
day  with  Ce*cile,  perfecting  the  toilettes  which  were 
to  give  her  the  usual  cachet  of  distinction  for  the 
summer  campaign.  Ottilie,  too,  was  drafted  —  not 
unwillingly,  since  it  gave  her  the  advantage  of  asso- 
ciation with  her  cousin  in  so  informal  a  way — into 
this  service. 

As  they  worked,  Angelica  was  pleased  to  show  her 
amiable  side.  She  gossiped,  in  reply  to  Ottilie's  def- 
erential questions,  on  that  European  school  life,  every- 
thing in  connection  with  which  appeared  so  fasci- 
nating to  the  younger  girl.  She  had  a  refined  and 
beautiful  manner  of  telling  a  story  when  she  chose 
to  exercise  it.  Ottilie  listened  as  if  to  the  reading 
of  some  delightful  book  of  memoirs. 

She  complimented  her  cousin  again  upon  this  ac- 
quirement. 

"  We  had  much  practice  in  narration  at  Paris," 
said  Angelica,  accepting  it  as  before.  "  I  perfected 
myself  there.  We  used  to  have  sewing  and  embroid- 
ering one  morning  in  the  week.  A  few  of  the  pupils 
in  turn  were  appointed  to  entertain  the  rest  with 
stories.     They  must  have  prepared  them  beforehand. 


158  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

Madame  Batignolles-Clichy  sat  by  and  criticised.  If 
there  were  any  straying  from  the  point  at  issue  or 
drawling  or  hard  drawing  of  the  breath,  or  if  there 
were  too  many  et  puis,  et  alors,  and  lorsques  in  the 
story,  it  had  to  be  repeated  till  it  could  be  properly 
done. 

"  At  Geneva,"  she  said,  "  we  had  such  a  lovely 
distant  view  of  Mont  Blanc,  across  the  lake.  Our 
school  was  an  old  chateau.  The  owner  had  rented  it 
for  economy's  sake  and  gone  with  his  family,  to  live 
in  the  orangery.  He  was  a  nice  old  gentleman.  We 
often  saw  him.  I  have  been  back  there  since,  and 
tested  his  recollection  of  me.  There  he  sat,  as  if  it 
were  but  yesterday,  in  his  skull  cap,  on  a  stone  bench, 
in  the  sunshine.  I  let  him  look  at  me  a  long  time, 
when  I  came  up,  after  alighting  from  the  carriage. 

u  c  Tiens  /'  he  exclaimed,  at  length,  '  cest  la  petite 
Angelica,'' —  It  is  little  Angelica." 

"  I  left  there  when  I  was  but  fourteen.  We  used 
to  play  hide-and-seek  in  the  garden,  and  run  on  the 
top  of  a  wall  along  the  lake  front.  A  door  opened 
through  the  wall  and  gave  access  to  the  shore.  I  re- 
member  how  the  water  used  to  make  a  wavering  on 
the  white  curtains  of  our  beds  in  the  summer  morn- 
ings. Once  we  saw  one  of  the  lateen-sails  capsize 
and  three  men  drown." 

"  Were  there  many  Americans  ?  "  asked  Ottilie. 

"  I  was  the  only  one  at  first.  The  rest  were  of  all 
nations,  and  many  of  noble  families.  Later  other 
Americans  came.  There  was  Edith  Wynn,  of  Phil- 
adelphia, who  afterwards  made  a  brilliant  match  with 
the  Due  de  la  Tribord-Babord.  I  hear  since  that  she 
wishes  she  hadn't.  There  was  Lilly  Weidenmeyer, 
a   very   beautiful   girl,   who   had  lovely   arms.      She 


OTTILIE    HARVEY'S    ROUTINE.  159 

would  hardly  ever  consent  to  have  them  covered. 
They  were  her  death  in  time.  She  rested  on  a  mar- 
ble mantel  when  heated  with  dancing,  felt  an  icy  chill 
run  through  her,  and  died  within  a  month,  of  quick 
consumption.  Alice  Burlington  was  there  also.  She 
ducked  Madame's  lap-dog  in  the  fountain  one  day, 
and  I  told  of  her,  I  hardly  know  what  possessed  me  to 
do  it.  I  fancy  that  was  the  beginning  of  the  trouble 
in  our  families.  I  never  see  her  yet  without  recalling 
it." 

"  But  now  Paris  ?  "  said  Ottilie,  coaxingly.  "  I  sup- 
pose Paris  must  have  been  the  most  interesting  of 
all  ?  " 

44  At  Paris  we  were  close  to  the  eccentric  Duke  of 
Brunswick's.  You  never  could  tell,  when  you  looked 
out  of  the  window,  what  color  his  house  was  going  to 
be  next.  Sometimes  it  wras  light  blue,  again  dark 
blue,  pink,  green,  or  yellow.  lie  used  also  to  have 
his  maid-servants  ride  his  horses  around  the  court- 
yard, in  their  ordinary  dresses.  There  wras  another 
school,  of  a  commoner  sort,  on  the  other  side  of  us,  so 
near  that  we  could  look  over  into  its  garden  and  see 
everything  that  was  going  on.  The  poor  girls  had  to 
puss  a  regular  muster  every  morning.  We  used  to 
see  each  one  in  turn  hold  out  her  hands,  to  a  teacher, 
to  show  her  nails  ;  smile  —  so —  to  show  her  teeth  " 
(here  Miss  Angelica  smiled  in  mimicry,  displaying 
her  own  white  teeth  to  excellent  advantage),  44  lif t 
her  skirt  above  the  tops  of  her  shoes,  and  then  swing 
around,  with  a  flourish,  to  let  it  be  seen  that  her  dress 
was  properly  hooked  up,  and  so  pass  on. 

44  At  Hanover,"  these  episodic  reminiscences  con- 
tinued, '-the  young  German  officers  used  to  walk 
past,  by   threes  and  four?,   very  sentimentally,  when 


160  THE    HOUSE    OF    A    MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

we  were  taken  to  the  afternoon  concerts  at  the  Thier- 
garten.  But  any  girl  who  showed  a  disposition  to 
flirt  was  sternly  made  to  sit  with  her  face  towards 
the  shrubbery.  Once  a  very  bold  young  aid-de-camp 
dashed  by  the  school  on  horseback,  and  threw  a 
bouquet  in  at  an  open  window.  There  could  not 
have  been  a  greater  excitement  if  a  bomb-shell  had 
burst." 

The  narrator  went  on  to  tell  of  the  steps  she  had 
taken  in  due  course,  in  Italy,  to  acquire  the  true  lin- 
gua Toscana  in  bocca  Homana,  and  nothing  less. 

Returning  again  to  Paris,  she  said  among  the  rest, 
that  school  had  adjourned,  for  the  summer  months  to 
a  villa  at  Etretat,  and  lessons  had  depended  on  the 
tides. 

"  A  ridiculous  proposal  for  my  hand  was  made 
here,"  she  said,  "  by  the  son  of  a  rich  Paris  grocer. 
He  had  seen  me  walking  on  the  sands,  and  sent  his 
mother  to  negotiate.  The  girls  used  to  ask  me  after 
that  the  price  of  sugar,  and  say,  4  How  is  soap  to- 
day, Angelica?"' 

The  comfortable  sitting-room  of  Mrs.  Rodman 
Harvey,  on  the  story  above  the  parlors,  proved  to  be 
both  the  central  focus  of  authority  and  something  of 
a  rendezvous  for  all  the  household.  Angelica  came 
there  for  criticism  on  her  new  apparel,  the  yellow- 
haired  Calista  to  complain  querulously  of  the  difficul- 
ties in  her  studies. 

This  child  displayed  a  curious  shrinking  —  encour- 
aged by  neglect  —  from  almost  every  form  of  mental 
effort.  She  seemed  to  cherish  the  idea  that  her  in- 
structors, being  sufficiently  paid,  could  somehow  learn 
her  tasks  for  her,  as  well  as  (each.    ]>ut  she  was  found 


OTTILIE    HARVEY'S    ROUTINE.  161 

by  Ottilie,  who  took  some  pains  to  win  her  confi- 
dence, to  be  of  a  certain  slow  shrewdness,  and  of  a 
generous  and  loyal  disposition  as  well.  The  young 
girl  thought  her  not  likely,  under  competent  manage- 
ment, to  remain  always  as  dull  as  she  seemed. 

Selkirk  dropped  in  at  his  mother's  room  to  report 
upon  some  commission  he  had  undertaken,  or,  per- 
haps, to  keep  up  an  acquaintance  which,  with  the 
varied  habits  of  the  several  members  of  the  family, 
often  appeared  in  danger  of  lapsing  altogether.  Rod- 
man, Jr.,  came  to  help  himself  liberally  to  fine  sta- 
tionery, and  renew  a  nagging  argument  he  had  in 
progress  for  the  privilege  of  a  latch-key.  His  father 
refused  this.  His  mother,  more  than  once  "  for  the 
sake  of  peace,"  lent  him  her  own.  He  had  entered 
the  Columbia  Grammar  School  now,  and  was  sup- 
posed to  be  preparing  for  college. 

"  He  may  not  be  a  saint "  —  Mrs.  Harvey  took  oc- 
casion to  say  to  Ottilie,  but  she  paused  there.  Some 
kind  of  a  saving  clause  seemed  to  be  implied,  yet  it 
would  be  difficult  to  explain  just  what  it  was. 

Conrad,  the  cook,  came  in  white  cap  and  apron,  to 
confer  on  the  day's  dinner.  Mrs.  Ambler,  the  house- 
keeper, reported  that  she  had  been  to  market,  and 
had  given  out  the  stores  from  the  store-room — a 
place  almost  as  large  as  a  shop,  and  redolent  of  delec- 
table odors  like  Araby  the  blest. 

Mrs.  Ambler  brought  the  latest  news  from  the 
servants1  hall.  John  Welsh  had  come  in  from  the 
stables  in  a  flushed  condition  the  evening  before, 
and  made  himself  very  obnoxious  at  the  dining-table. 
Miss  Angelica's  maid,  Cecile.  had  again  been  making 
trouble  in  the  laundry  because  her  line  clothing  had 
been  washed  with  that  of  a  commoner  sort. 
11 


162  THE   HOUSE    OF   A    MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

"  That  girl  is  an  image,  if  ever  there  was  one,"  said 
Mrs.  Harvey. 

She  rarely  ventured,  however,  upon  further  inter- 
ference in  the  jurisdiction  of  her  daughter.  She  was 
afraid  of  this  daughter,  as  even  irrational  and  strong- 
willed  mothers  may  be  of  children  stronger  than 
themselves. 

One  day  the  majestic-looking  Alphonse,  however, 
it  came  about,  slapped  Mary  Callahan  in  the  face. 
Who  would  have  believed  it?  Who  would  have  sup- 
posed that  so  formal  and  irreproachable  a  person,  to 
the  view,  could  be  so  rude  a  barbarian  underneath 
it?  Mary  Callahan  was  the  trim  parlor-maid,  who 
wore  pink  calico  and  cleaned  the  mirrors  and  brasses, 
and  was  often  seen  on  the  upper  window-ledges,  her 
body  half  out,  holding  a  sash  in  her  lap  while  she 
polished  the  glass  till  it  shone  again.  Mrs.  Ambler 
brought  the  news  that  she  was  crying  in  her  room, 
and  dressing  in  haste,  with  the  avowed  intention  of 
"going  down  to  the  court  for  a  warrant." 

Jt  was  a  trait  in  Mrs.  Rodman  Harvey's  character 
that  you  could  never  tell  upon  which  side  she  was 
going  to  appear.  Her  judgments  were  sudden  and 
remarkable.  Mrs.  Ambler  was  accustomed  to  re- 
ceive from  her  all  opinions  alike  with  equal  deference 
and  freedom  from  comment  or  surprise.  She  said 
simply,  "  Yes,  Mrs.  Harvey,"  or  "No,  Airs.  Harvey," 
as  the  case  might  be.  Instead  of  espousing  now  the 
cause  of  outraged  beauty  and  helplessness,  as  might 
fairly  have  been  expected,  it  was  precisely  the  un- 
gallant  Alphonse,  the  rude  aggressor,  —  a  servant,  it 
should  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  of  a  kind  much  in 
demand,  and  hard  to  replace  if  lost, — whom  Mrs. 
Hodman  Harvey  supported. 


OTTILIE   HARVEY'S   ROUTINE.  163 

"  That  Mary  Callahan  is  a  limb,"  she  exclaimed. 
"  You  will  have  to  go  to  her  and  quiet  her  now,  Mrs. 
Ambler,  to  keep  her  from  being  ridiculous.  But 
afterwards,  just  put  on  your  things  and  step  down  to 
Galpin's,  and  see  whom  else  he  has  got  for  me.  Tell 
Galpin  it  is  too  dreadful  of  him  to  treat  me  the  way 
he  does !  Tell  him  it  is  too  terrible  of  him  to  send 
me  such  people  !  " 

Mrs.  Harvey  seemed  to  have  divided  her  servants 
into  three  classes,  of  her  own,  according  to  their 
relative  depravity.  If  the  short-comings  were  com- 
paratively slight,  the  offender  was  only  a  "curiosity." 
A  considerable  degree  below  this  was  the  "  image ;  " 
while  the  most  aggravated  and  heinous  form  of  all 
was  the  "  limb,"  whatever  that  might  be.  There 
was  great  rotation  in  office,  in  the  household,  and 
frequent  recurrence  to  Galpin.  Galpin,  being  well 
paid,  shrugged  his  shoulders,  and  said  little,  as  was 
the  way  of  a  number  of  other  worthy  persons  whose 
fortune  it  was  to  have  dealings  with  Mrs.  Rodman 
Harvey. 

The  rows  of  servants  sitting  along  the  benches  of 
the  intelligence  office  knew  her  well,  and  exchanged 
philosophic  reflections  about  her.  She  was  spoken  of 
as  "  a  woman  a  bit  too  free  wid  her  tongue." 

At  the  same  time  some  mind  of  more  impartial 
scope  among  them  might  remark,  "  She  do  be  over  it 
as  quick  ;  and  may  be  she'd  be  the  first  to  be  sorry 
after." 

It  was  in  virtue  of  irresolute  and  forgiving  traits 
on  both  sides,  no  doubt,  that  many  even  of  the  worst 
"limbs,"  —  persons  whose  departure  from  the  house 
had  been  attended  by  throes  and  convulsions,  —  were 
found  reinstated,  even  after  more  dismissals  than  one. 


164  THE   HOUSE    OF   A    MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

at  their  posts,  and  going  about  their  affairs  as  though 
no  cloud  had  ever  troubled  the  serenity  of  the  domes- 
tic sky. 

When  Mrs.  Harvey  had  brought  matters  to  such  a 
pass  that  there  appeared  no  escape,  she  threw  off  the 
direction  helplessly  upon  Mrs.  Ambler,  and  rested 
upon  her  own  laurels  till  the  way  seemed  clear  again. 
She  had  had  housekeepers,  she  said,  who  brought  her 
too  many  complaints  of  the  servants,  which  showed 
want  of  discipline  ;  and  others  who  brought  too  few, 
showing  collusion.  Mrs.  Ambler,  deferential  in  the 
presence  of  authority,  was  of  a  good  deal  of  self-re- 
liance when  it  was  withdrawn.  She  indulged  the 
mild  vanity  of  speaking  of  "  my  servants,"  and  "  my 
kitchen."  She  seemed  for  the  moment  to  have  re- 
alized the  happy  medium. 

Into  all  this  Ottilie  was  initiated,  as  a  part  of  her 
new  experiences.  Her  aunt  professed  to  expect  much 
assistance  from  her. 

"  From  no  quarter,  from  no  human  eye,"  Mrs. 
Harvey  declared,  '*  do  I  receive  even  such  a  ray  of 
aid  and  sympathy  as  might  penetrate  into  the  darkest 
caves  of  ocean." 

She  complained  guardedly  at  first,  then  more  open- 
ly, of  selfishness  on  the  part  of  Angelica,  witli  the 
rest.  "  Angelica,"  she  said,  never  too  particular  with 
her  metaphors,  "  would  walk  over  chaos,  mountains 
high,  and  never  raise  hand  or  foot." 

If  an  impulsive  mother,  however,  she  was  also  a  fond 
one.  She  bore  no  apparent  grudge  for  her  daughter's 
selfishness.  At  the  most  trivial  ailment  of  Angelica's 
she  manifested  a  concern  which  had  no  fault  butover- 
oiliciousness.  She  hastened  to  fetch  and  carry,  pre- 
pared  tea-  and   medicines,   and   asked   a  thousand  sn- 


OTTILIE   HARVEY'S   ROUTINE.  165 

perfluous  questions,  which,  sometimes  met  with  but 
short  answers.  Ottilie  once  saw  the  charming  patient 
dash  away  a  teaspoon  held  by  her  mother's  hand  so 
vehemently  that  it  fell  clinking  to  the  floor. 

Good  Mrs.  Harvey  had  often  occasion  to  repeat 
her  favorite  formula:   "She  is  a  regular  Harvey." 

The  card  of  Arthur  Kingbolt  of  Kingbolts ville 
came  up  one  afternoon,  when  the  preparing  of  toil- 
ettes was  going  on  as  described.  Angelica  frowned 
at  sight  of  it.  She  was  beautifully  dressed,  as  usual, 
and  there  was  no  ostensible  reason  why  she  should 
not  have  gone  down.  She  handed  the  card  to  Ottilie, 
however,  and  said :  "  Please  go  down  for  me.  Say 
that  I  am  otherwise  occupied,  —  that  I  cannot  con- 
veniently see  him.  —  I  wish  the  message  to  be  rather 
uncivil;  do  you  understand  ?  " 

Ottilie  had  considerable  trepidation  at  the  idea  of 
meeting  this  grand  personage,  and  especially  as  the 
bearer  of  so  ungracious  a  word.  But  some  plainly 
visible  uneasiness  of  his  own  prevented  his  attending 
to  hers.  His  countenance  fell  when  he  saw  who  it 
was  that  rustled  down  to  him  instead  of  Angelica. 
Ottilie  softened  the  message  to  what  extent  she 
dared.  Kingbolt  babbled  a  commonplace  or  two 
about  the  June  races,  the  kind  of  a  season  it  had  been 
socially,  the  increasing  heat  of  the  weather,  and  the 
like,  and  took  his  departure.  He  had  hardly  deigned 
to  give  her,  she  thought,  a  second  glance. 

M  Little  enough,  poor  I,  just  down  from  Vassar, 
knew  of  the  kind  of  season  it  had  been  socially,"  she 
said  afterwards,  about  this  interview. 

In  truth,  the  numerous  victims  in  a  sentimental 
way  —  blonde  and  brunette,  and  in  many  lands — to 
the  personal  charms  and  the  magnificence  of  King- 


166  THE    HOUSE    OF    A    MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

bolt  of  Kingboltsville  might  now  have  felt  a  certain 
sympathy  for  him.  Rebuffed  in  advances  of  a  vehe- 
ment earnestness,  which  he  had  allowed  himself  to 
make  to  the  betrothed  of  another,  his  affections,  his 
pride,  and  his  confidence  in  his  own  distinguished 
merits  had  all  suffered  cruelly.  He  was  driven  to  de- 
spair. This  refusal  to  see  him  completed  the  meas 
ure  of  his  humiliation,  and,  as  he  said,  of  his  folly. 
He  had  thrown  himself  into  the  scale  against  that 
dolt  of  a  Sprowle  —  Yes,  he  had  come  to  this,  he 
had  condescended  to  it,  — and  thus  it  had  ended. 

He  put  his  yacht  in  order,  bustling  vigorously  him- 
self about  the  preparations,  and  set  off  for  a  cruise. 
At  first  in  his  misanthropy  he  was  capable  of  flying 
a  black  flag,  and  becoming  a  terror  of  the  main  after 
the  most  approved  pattern.  But  the  winds  blew,  and 
the  seas  curled  bravely  round  his  prow.  He  took 
part  in  the  manoeuvres  of  a  squadron  in  the  Sound  ; 
put  in  at  summer  resorts  along  the  New  England 
coast ;  rose  and  fell  on  the  great  tides  of  the  Bay  of 
Fundy  ;  made  Halifax,  passed  into  the  Bras  cTOr, 
and  around  Prince  Edward's  Island  and  the  Magdalen 
Islands,  and  so  home  again. 

Much  before  the  end  of  his  six  weeks'  cruise  he 
figured  to  himself  that  he  was  entirely  cured.  He 
went  to  Newport  in  the  end  of  August.  It  was  by  no 
means  because  She  was  there,  but  because  it  was  the 
correct  thing  to  do.  Sprowle  Onderdonk  had  mar- 
shaled the  Narragansett  (inn  Club,  for  instance,  and 
sport  of  many  kinds  was  in  prospect. 

The  day  at  length  came  when  the  family  departed 
for  their  villa,  and  Ottilie  was  left  to  the  duties  for 
which  she  had  been  more  particularly  engaged.    liar- 


ottilie  harvey's  routine.  167 

vey's  campaign  for  the  congressional  nomination  was 
now  begun  in  earnest.  The  people  whom  it  was  con- 
sidered desirable  to  dine  were  invited  as  proposed. 
Hackley,  served,  with  a  great  show  of  activity,  as  a 
confidential  agent,  and  procured  the  insertion  of  art- 
ful communications  in  the  newspapers  and  the  like. 
The  reconciliation  of  coolness  of  long  standing  was 
effected.  Sums  of  money  were  apportioned  out  and 
placed  in  an  occult  way,  as  the  saying  was,  "where 
they  would  do  the  most  good." 

In  the  worst  of  the  midsummer  heat  Harvey  trans- 
ferred his  headquarters  for  a  fortnight  to  one  of  the 
great  hotels  at  Coney  Island,  then  newly  risen  into 
prominence,  and  took  his  niece  with  him. 

Ottilie  did  not  send  for  Bainbridge,  preferring  that 
their  meeting  should  come  about,  as  it  no  doubt 
shortly  would,  in  some  natural  way.  Miss  Rawson 
beard  of  her  arrival  and  called  upon  her,  partly  per- 
haps in  the  hope  of  making  the  acquaintance  of  the 
principals  of  this  important  family. 

So  considerable  a  time  elapsed,  however,  before  a 
chance  meeting  with  Bainbridge  came  about  that 
Ottilie  perhaps  found  the  surprise  he  expresssed  at 
finding  her  in  town  rather  natural. 

"I  thought  it  possible  that  Miss  Rawson  might 
have  told  you,"  she  said. 

"  I  dare  say  she  forgot  it,"  he  answered  dryly. 

Ottilie  had  inclined  to  anxiety,  remembering  the 
manner  of  their  parting,  but  as  he  made  no  other  ad- 
vances than  those  of  an  easy,  unsentimental  good- 
comradeship,  this  happily  vanished,  and  they  were 
soon  upon  their  old  friendly  tooting.  Bainbridge, 
not  at  any  time  too  much  pressed  with  business,  had 
more  leisure  than  ever  now  in   the  dull  part  of  the 


168  THE   HOUSE   OF   A    MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

summer.  He  was  employing  a  part  of  bis  time,  he 
said,  and  adding  a  trifle  to  liis  income,  by  writing  oc- 
casional articles  for  a  newspaper.  She  insisted  on 
his  showing  her  some  of  these,  and  he  allowed  himself 
to  be  persuaded  to  do  so. 

It  stood  the  young  girl  in  good  stead,  now,  to  have 
been  elder  sister,  and  lieutenant  of  her  mother  in  the 
management  of  a  large  family.  She  got  on  well  with 
the  servants  and  with  Mrs.  Ambler,  the  housekeeper. 
She  presided  at  her  uncle's  dinner- table  with  a  de- 
mure composure.  More  than  one  of  the  masculine 
guests  regarded  with  approval  the  slender  figure  ap- 
pearing above  the  board,  against  its  high-backed 
carver)  chair. 

The  presence  of  Stoneglass,  the  editor  of  the  "  Me- 
teor," among  others,  had  been  secured  in  some  appar- 
ently informal  way.  He  was  a  person  thought  to 
have  peculiar  influence  with  a  party  of  independents 
in  the  district,  who  held  the  balance  of  power.  His 
position  on  the  nomination,  with  theirs,  was  not  yet 
determined,  and  remained  a  source  of  painful  anxi- 
ety. Stoneglass  was  pleased  at  dinner  to  compliment 
the  merchant  on  his  "  little  housekeeper." 

"  Few  young  women  nowadays,"  he  said,  "  know 
anything  of  the  good  old  domestic  arts,  so  becoming 
to  their  sex." 

He  recurred  to  the  simpler  days  of  his  youth,  when 
housekeeping  had  been  as  regular  a  part  of  educa- 
tion as  all  the  others.  Harvey,  finding  him  in  this 
vein,  encouraged  it  with  the  anecdote  about  Otlilie 
—  which  he  had  heard  from  her  father  on  his  visit  — 
that  she  had  taken  a  prize,  offered  in  her  family,  for 
the  best  loaf  of  bread. 

Stoneglass  turned  to  her  pleasantly  from  the  talk 


ottilie  harvey's  routine.  169 

on  serious  matters.  What  were  the  views  of  a  learned 
young  lady  fresh  from  Vassar,  he  asked  in  banter, 
on  the  question  of  specie  resumption  ? 

Instead  of  the  blushing  disclaimer,  which  might 
have  been  expected,  she  made  him,  to  his  surprise,  a 
little  reply  which  was  by  no  means  wholly  devoid  of 
-ense.  Thereafter,  whether  Ottilie  had  anything  to 
lo  with  it  or  not,  Stoneglass  became,  both  in  the 
14  Meteor  "  and  out  of  it,  a  firm  adherent  of  Harvey's 
cause. 

"  Where  in  the  world,"  her  uncle  inquired,  when 
the  guest  had  gone,  "  did  you  come  to  have  an  opin- 
ion on  the  currency  question?" 

i%  I  happened  to  have  just  read  it  in  a  newspaper," 
she  explained,  coloring.  "  Should  I  have  told  him 
that?" 

But  she  did  not  appear  to  find  it  necessary  to  say 
that  it  was  a  paper  brought  her  by  Bainbriclge  with 
one  of  those  occasional  articles  of  his  of  which  he 
had  spoken,  and  that  the  article  was  his. 

Harvey  had  his  niece  read  to  him,  and  now  and 
then  sing  some  ballad  music  for  which  lie  had  a 
lingering  taste,  seldom  gratified  by  his  daughter  An- 
gelica. She  read  his  financial  column,  with  the  in- 
cidental references  to  himself  contained  in  it  ;  or 
long  reports  which  he  had  saved  till  evening,  not 
having  had  time  to  finish  them  in  the  morning. 

These  were  often  trials,  extending  over  several 
days,  for  defalcation,  forgery,  breach  of  trust,  and 
other  financial  crimes.  For  these  cases,  especially 
when  occurring  among  persons  who  had  once  enjoyed 
the  confidence  of  the  community  to  a  notable  degree, 
he  showed  a  definite  taste. 

Ottilie  ventured  to    commend  his    political  ambi- 


170  THE   HOUSE   OF   A    MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

tions.  "  There  are  so  many  persons  of  position  and 
means,"  she  said,  ingenuously,  "  who  remain  selfishly 
wrapped  up  in  their  own  affairs,  and  take  no  part  in 
the  government,  nor  aid  in  any  way  to  improve  the 
general  condition."  She  said  she  had  heard  that 
nothing  was  so  much  needed  in  politics  as  good  men. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  she  ventured  to  approach, 
with  trepidation,  the  subject  of  the  Hasbroucks. 

"Your  interest  is  creditable,  but  misdirected," 
Harvey  replied  to  her  appeal.  "  Let  me  hear  no 
more  of  sympathy  for  them  or  any  of  that  section  of 
the  country.  Had  it  depended  upon  them,  I  should 
have  been  a  beggar  in  the  streets  to-day.  That  I  am 
not,  that  I  escaped  bankruptcy,  is  due  —  I  hardly 
know  to  what  it  is  due." 

He  proceeded  to  acquaint  her  with  some  of  the 
particulars  which  we  have  seen  laid  before  St.  Hill. 

"  I  would  not  fail,"  he  continued,  "  for  then  I 
should  have  been  impotent  to  resent  the  harm  that 
had  been  done  me.  I  could  not  bear  arms,  but  I 
remained  solvent,  to  strengthen  the  power  of  the 
government,  and  pay  for  those  who  could.  I  put  a 
regiment  in  the  field  at  my  own  expense.  As  my 
Southern  debtors  had  forgotten,  together  with  my 
dues,  my  favors  and  good  will,  I  sent  bayonets  to 
prick  their  recollections.  No,  let  me  hear  no  more 
on  this  subject." 

Why  was  he  so  bitter,  and  why  so  sweeping  in  his 
resentment?  Ottilie  asked  herself.  It  had  all  been 
so  long  ago,  and  her  friends  were  women,  who  could 
not  personally  have  injured  him.  Others  had  escaped 
bankruptcy,  and  even  fallen  into  it,  she  was  sure, 
without  cherishing  such  lonir  and  violent  animosities. 

She  was  humiliated  and   depressed   at  her  rebuff 


ottilie  harvey's  routine.  171 

She  enjoyed  no  such  place  in  his  esteem  as  she  had 
foolishly  imagined.  She  thought  of  going  away  at 
once,  but  this  could  hardly  have  been  done  with 
credit.  It  would  not  be  understood.  For  the  present 
she  would  stay. 

One  small  event  succeeding  after  another  dimmed 
this  impression.  Her  uncle  Rodman  certainly  had 
had  provocation,  and  different  natures  take  things  so 
differently. 

He  brought  her  one  day  a  considerable  sum  of 
money,  directing  her  to  distribute  it  in  such  charities 
as  she  saw  fit.  He  wished  her  to  be  assured  that  it 
was  not  niggardliness  or  insensibility  to  distress  that 
caused  him  to  withhold  his  aid  from  the  Hasbroucks, 
but  a  settled  principle. 

At  the  same  time,  perhaps,  the  candidate  did  not 
forget  that  benefactions  distributed  from  his  house 
would  much  redound  to  his  advantage  in  the  political 
way. 


XIII. 

SHOWING  THE  PERFECT  FEASIBILITY  OF  PLATONIC 
FRIENDSHIPS. 

The  circumstances  of  their  new  situation —  left  in 
town  together,  when  all  the  world  had  gone  out  of  it 
—  contributed  to  the  growth  of  the  intimacy  between 
Ottilie  and  Bainbridge.  There  was  no  one  to  espe- 
cially remark  upon  the  young  man's  calls,  frequent 
though  they  might  be.  Only  Mrs.  Ambler  showed  her- 
self discreetly  from  time  to  time  in  the  large  rooms  of 
the  mansion.  Bainbridge  bid  for  her  favor,  also,  by 
remembering  her  and  addressing  to  her  an  occasional 
courteous  remark.  She  had  lived  at  one  time,  it 
seemed,  with  his  relatives,  the  Hudson  Hendricks. 

She  told  Ottilie,  "  They  are  elegant  people,  so  easy 
in  their  manners,  that  a  body  gets  along  with  them 
as  well  as  if  she  were  one  of  themselves." 

But  a  stray  figure  or  two  would  be  seen  in  these 
midsummer  days  on  the  whole  length  of  the  Avenue. 
The  windows  of  the  deserted  houses  were  darkened 
wilh  green  shades,  close-drawn.  The  entrance  doors 
of  many  were  battened  up  as  if  never  to  be  opened 
again.  A  chance  pull  at  the  bell  was  answered  only 
by  some  frowzy  charwoman,  who  looked  up  with 
wrinkled  forehead  from  the  basement  area.  The 
grass  grew  long  in  the  door-yards.  Oleanders  here 
and  there  showed  their  white  and  crimson  flowers 
against  some  bit  of   brick  wall.      The  impulsive  mag- 


FEASIBILITY    OF   PLATONIC   FRIENDSHIPS.  173 

nolia  shrubs  were  flowerless  long  since,  and  gave  token 
of  their  advancing  age  and  experience.  The  bay  and 
rivers,  around  the  city,  were  full  of  white  steamers, 
fluttering  with  banners,  resonant  with  music,  and  go- 
ing on  excursions. 

"  Do  you  not  go  out  of  town,  also  ?  "  Ottilie  asked 
her  friend. 

"  Oh,  I  have  been  in  the  habit  of  taking  a  run  to 
Fire  Island,  or  Lake  George,  or  the  White  Mountains," 
lie  replied  carelessly ;  "  but  the  fact  is  that  New  York 
itself  is  not  the  least  desirable  of  summer  resorts.  You 
cannot  exactly  swing  a  hammock  in  Madison  Square, 
nor  cast  yourself  down  with  a  book  in  front  of  the 
Astor  House,  but  you  can  take  a  more  comfortable 
lodging  at  half  the  price,  walk  in  the  shade  of  the  tall 
buildings,  listen  to  the  spatter  of  the  water-carts,  and 
study  the  country  cousin  come  to  town." 

"And  of  course  you  can  make  day  excursions. 
There  seems  to  be  so  many  attractive  places  to  go  to." 

"I  cannot  endure  them,"  asserted  Bainbridge. 
"  What  with  the  discomfort  of  the  journey  and  the 
return  again  to  town,  more  sultry  than  ever  by  the 
contrast,  it  is  like  eating  the  rind  of  a  water-melon  to 
get  the  pulp,  and  afterwards  eating  your  way  out  on 
the  other  side." 

Sometimes  in  the  evening  the  pair  sat  in  one  of 
the  chintz-covered  parlors,  by  a  window  which  opened 
on  a  balcony.  The  gas-light  was  not  too  brilliant. 
Fitful  puffs  of  air  stirred  the  soft  material  of  the  cur- 
tains. Strolling  German  bands  played  in  the  side 
streets,  and  the  music  was  borne  sweetly  to  the  ear 
from  a  distance.  In  the  side  streets  the  women  of 
families  who  did  not  go  out  of  town  till  late,  or  not 
at  all,  sat  upon  their  doorsteps  in  white  toilettes,  and 
held  informal  levees. 


174  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

Bainbridge's  visits  were  oftenest  in  the  afternoon, 
and  Ottilie  received  them  in  the  large  picture-gal- 
lery. It  was  a  favorite  resort  of  hers  in  the  long, 
quiet,  hot  days.  She  liked  to  go  there  with  a  book 
and  look  up  from  it  and  let  her  fancy  wander  away 
to  the  endless  variety  of  scenes  and  personages  about 
her. 

There  were  coquettes,  madonnas,  vestal  virgins, 
and  odalisques.  There  was  Francis  I.  as  taken  cap- 
tive at  Pavia,  and  Hannibal  swearing  eternal  hatred 
to  the  Romans.  You  drifted  in  a  barge,  with  flower- 
pots at  the  stern,  along  a  silvery  French  canal.  You 
assisted  at  a  harvest  in  a  Normandy  apple-orchard  ;  a 
gay  dance  of  Hungarian  peasants  ;  shrank  in  dismay 
from  a  charge  of  Thor-like  cuirassiers;  or  looked 
down  at  night  upon  a  snow-clad  farm  in  Ukraine, 
white  under  the  moon  ;  and  you  might  hear,  as  it 
pleased  you,  the  faint  sound  of  bugles,  the  lute  of  the 
troubador,  or  the  pan-pipes  of  Daphnis  and  Chloe. 

Bainbridge  thought  the  living,  intelligent  Ottilie, 
as  he  saw  her  there,  in  her  fresh,  summer  gowns,  in 
patterns  of  blue  and  white  stripes,  or  small  sprigs, 
with  her  nice  hair,  her  smooth  skin  free  from  blemish, 
and  a  little  high  light  at  the  tip  of  her  nose,  which 
was  made  by  the  illumination  coming  from  above,  far 
prettier  than  any  of  the  pictured  ideals  on  the  walls. 

They  talked  naturally  more  or  less  of  the  works 
about  them.  These  subjects  led  up  to  that  of  Euro- 
pean travel. 

"  All,  if  I  could  but  travel !  "  Ottilie  exclaimed.  "  I 
wonder  if  I  ever  shall !  —  But  what  do  I  say?  You 
see  before  you  a  person  who  is  traveling.  I  am  in 
Italy  at  the  present  moment,  and  writing  back  my 
experiences  to  an  intimate  friend." 


FEASIBILITY   OF   PLATONIC   FRIENDSHIPS.  175 

It  appeared,  when  this  enigma  was  explained,  that 
she  had  entered  into  the  improving  plan,  with  a  class- 
mate, of  carrying  on  a  correspondence  in  the  same 
manner  as  if  they  were  really  journeying  abroad. 
They  were  to  collect  information  as  to  the  places 
through  which  they  imagined  themselves  to  pass 
from  books  or  any  other  sources  accessible. 

"  My  correspondent  is  Alice  Holbrook,"  she  com- 
menced,  "  the  one  who  "  — 

"  Oh,  yes,  the  studious  one,  whose  family  wanted 
her  to  marry  her  cousin.  She  did  not  wish  to,  how- 
ever, and  sent  him  back  his  engagement  ring.  Aft- 
erwards her  sister  took  the  young  man,"  supplied 
Bainbridge  promptly. 

His  companion  gave  him  a  glance  of  surprise  and 
reproach.  "  You  are  very  observing,"  she  said,  with 
a  slight  asperity. 

"  Bless  you,  I  know  them  all  by  heart,"  he  replied, 
shamelessly.  "  I  could  n't  know  your  school-mates 
better  if  I  had  been  born  and  brought  up  with 
them." 

Severity  seemed  thrown  away  on  such  a  person,  so 
Ottilie  went  lightly  on  again. 

"  Alice  is  still  in  England,"  she  said,  "but  I  came 
to  Italy  the  first  thing.  I  could  not  wait,  —  I  was  at 
Florence  at  the  last  writing,  and  about  to  start  for 
Rome." 

Bainbridge  was  able  to  correct  a  few  monstrous  er- 
rors and  impossibilities  in  her  imaginary  travels,  at 
which  both  laughed  gayly. 

Perhaps  a  vague  fancy  of  the  pleasure  of  seeing  all 
that  again  in  company  with  such  a  charming  young 
enthusiast  may  have  passed  through  his  fancy.  A 
person  like  this,  exclaiming  over  the  picturesqueness 


176  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

which  had  pleased  him  in  his  time,  and  giving  it  new 
interpretations,  leaning  on  his  arm  in  becoming  fa- 
tigues in  the  galleries  and  steep  streets, — ah,  per- 
haps, that  might  be  even  yet  something  worth  while  ! 

They  stood  one  day  before  the  patriotic  Hannibal. 

"  Let  us  swear  an  eternal  friendship  instead,"  pro- 
posed Bainbridge,  imitating  melodramatically  the 
pose  of  the  young  avenger  of  his  country.  £Ie  raised 
one  arm  to  heayen,  and  extended  the  other  towards 
the  young  girl.  They  were  on  excellent  terms  that 
afternoon.  She  took  his  offered  hand,  laughingly, 
with  a  becoming  reluctance.  Secretly  she  was  pleased 
to  have  the  character  of  the  relation  between  them 
thus  accurately  defined. 

They  proceeded  to  talk  of  friendship,  of  the  possi- 
bility of  an  enduring  regard  on  the  platonic  basis  be- 
tween the  sexes.  Bainbridge  quoted  La  Bruyere  who 
asserts  that  it  is  possible.  An  understanding  seemed 
to  be  arrived  at  that  they  were  never  to  be  anything 
more  to  each  other  than  pleasant  companions.  They 
knew  each  other's  circumstances  perfectly.  The  pe- 
cuniary reason  alone,  were  there  nothing  else,  should 
be  sufficient  to  put  all  thoughts  of  love  and  marriage 
out  of  their  heads. 

"  Nobody  shall  marry  me  but  Miss  Golconda  Har- 
rington, whose  income  is  a  thousand  dollars  a  day,  — 
unless  it  be  Miss  Butterfield,  who  has  five  hundred," 
asserted  Bainbridge,  making  open  profession  of  the 
most  glaringly  mercenary  motives.  "  Both  of  them 
have  reached  forty-five  at  least,  and  they  are  tortured 
with  the  dread  that  everybody  who  approaches  them 
is  after  their  money.  I  shall  feign,  however,  some 
philanthropic  or  other  crafty  motive  for  getting  at 
them." 


FEASIBILITY    OF   PLATONIC    FRIENDSHIPS.  177 

"  And  I  ?  "  said  Ottilie, 

M  You  ?  you  must  marry  one  of  the  enormous 
young  millionaires  floating  about  on  every  hand. 
There  is  young  Xorthfleet,  who  owns  half  a  county 
in  Pennsylvania.  Or  Kingbolt  of  Kingboltsville. 
Come,  there  is  an  excellent  match.  I  select  Kingbolt 
of  Kingsboltsville.  I  give  my  consent.  Bless  you, 
my  children,"  and  he  performed  a  benediction  above 
this  imaginary  union. 

"  Very  well,  then  !  Enormous  young  millionaires, 
and  this  one  in  particular,  will  please  look  out  for 
themselves." 

"The  fact  is,"  he  went  on,  "that  after  a  certain  age 
a  person  "  ("  the  person  "  apparently  meant  himself) 
"  rarely  has  magnanimity  enough  to  wish  to  increase 
his  burdens  in  matrimony.  In  his  first  romantic  im- 
pulse, on  the  contrary,  he  would  have  been  glad  to 
double  his  hours  of  labor,  wear  shabbier  clothes,  live 
in  a  tenement  house,  or  a  wigwam  for  that  matter, 
and  consider  himself  amply  repaid  by  the  least  of  the 
dear  one's  smiles.  I  speak  of  the  man.  Xo  doubt 
the  young  woman,  too,  gets  around  to  the  same  way 
of  thinking,  —  always  supposing  that  she  has  felt 
any  other  way.  Besides,  even  that  kind  of  romanti- 
cism often  defeats  itself.  Confined  to  each  other's 
company  at  close  quarters,  without  a  fresh  stream  of 
outside  life  and  ideas  pouring  in,  they  bore  each 
other  presently,  —  our  beatific  couple.  They  throw 
plates  at  each  other's  heads,  and  get  into  the  divorce 
courts." 

Ottilie  seemed  to  be  musing  upon  this. 

"  One  estimates  fashionable  society  at  its  proper 
worth,  of  course,"  continued  this  philosopher,  sagely. 
M  One  may  not  care  to  go  into  it,  but  it  is  more  com- 

12 


178  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

pHmentary  to  be  asked,  all  the  same.  When  you  be- 
come householders  you  date  aud  rank  somehow  from 
that.  You  make  a  pretense  of  repaying  the  gorgeous 
hospitality  you  may  have  received.  If  society  does 
not  come  down,  witli  its  two  men  on  the  box  and  its 
supercilious  eye-glass  put  up,  to  return  your  calls, 
though  you  may  not  wish  to  see  it  the  least  in  the 
world,  you  must  be  offended.  A  proper  self-respect 
demands  it.  Presently  there  is  an  irreconcilable  quar- 
rel, and  that  is  the  end  of  it." 

This  was  hardly  the  way  in  which  Ottilie  had  been 
most  in  the  habit  of  judging.  But,  though  arguing 
openly  against  his  unfavorable  way  of  putting  the 
case,  she  was  inclined  to  admit  within  herself  that, 
for  him,  it  might  be  reasonable.  With  the  kind  of 
bringing  up  he  had  had,  he  must  look  upon  many 
things  as  indispensable  which  to  her  would  not  have 
been  so  at  all. 

There  was  little  that  escaped  the  range  of  their 
light  discussion.  Apropos  of  some  feudal  chatelaine 
or  Roman  contadina  on  the  walls,  they  exchanged 
their  ideas  on  feminine  beauty  and  adornment.  "  A 
woman  should  have  a  certain  simple  effect  in  her  ap- 
parel, no  matter  how  rich  the  material,"  said  Ottilie. 
"  Angelica  is  an  excellent  instance,  —  none  better. 
She  should  have  an  oval  face,  and  a  forehead  from 
which  her  hair  can  either  be  brushed  up,  if  she 
wishes,  or  worn  low.  It  should  not  be  too  high, 
which  is  harsh  and  brazen,  nor  too  low,  which  is  un- 
intellectual.'' 

The  speaker  had  a  way  of  fixing  her  eye  upon  a 
distant  point,  and  wrinkling  her  smooth  brow  by  way 
of  pursuing  a  line  of  thought  the  more  accurately,  or 
finding  a  better  word  or  distinction.     These   some- 


FEASIBILITY    OF    PLATONIC   FRIENDSHIPS.  179 

times  escaped  her,  when  she  was  forced  to  end  rather 
lamely  with  a  "you  know." 

'  "  Could  you,  now,  wear  your  hair  brushed  high  ?  " 
the  young  man  inquired,  bending  his  mind  with  a  cer- 
tain facility  to  the  problem. 

"  Xo  ;  I  fear  it  would  not  be  at  all  becoming." 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  think  it  would,"  he  argued  judicially. 
"  I  should  say  that  you  had  the  right  sort  of  a  fore- 
head. You  show  rather  more  of  it  now,  I  believe, 
than  when  I  first  saw  you.  You  have  adopted  a  kind 
of  compromise." 

"You  certainly  are — very  observing!"  she  ex- 
claimed again,  in  a  tantalized  way. 

Her  thoughts  Hew  back  in  alarm,  and  she  endeav- 
ored to  recall  her  appearance  as  it  must  have  been  at 
that  first  meeting.  Her  panoply  of  fascination  could 
have  been  in  but  poor  condition,  after  the  long  jour- 
ney, and  in  her  sadness  of  mind. 

"  But  I  cannot  help  it,"  she  concluded.  "  And 
who  would  have  supposed  that  men  noticed  things  of 
no  importance  ?  That  is  to  say.  they  are  of  impor- 
tance, but  one  does  not  expect  —  at  least  you  are  not 
generally  confronted  with  —  so  precise  a  recollection." 

On  his  side,  Bainbridge  was  of  opinion  that  he 
should  have  been  taller. 

"  No,"  Ottilie  was  pleased  to  decide  critically,  "  you 
are  just  right." 

She  showed  him,  at  li is  next  visit,  a  picture  of  her- 
self taken  in  childhood,  an  old-fashioned  ambrotype 
of  the  kind  in  vogue  before  the  photograph  came  in. 

She  took  it  from  her  pocket,  saying,  — 

"  I  happened  to  find  this  among  the  papers  in  my 
writing-desk.  You  can  see  now  what  a  fright  I 
should  lojk  with  my  hair  up." 


180  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

It  was  a  representation  of  a  quaint  little  maiden  at 
the  age,  say,  of  ten.  Her  hair  was  short  and  confined 
in  a  round  comb.  About  her  neck  hung  a  conspicuous 
locket.  Her  hands,  in  lace  "  mitts,"  were  folded  in 
her  lap.  Bainbridge  gazed  at  this  little  picture  mu- 
singly, and  returned  to  it  a  number  of  times.  His 
heart  seemed  to  warm  above  it  and  go  in  search  of 
her  whole  past  existence. 

"  I  think  I  must  have  been  a  rather  odd  child," 
she  said  in  a  reflective  way  as,  observing  his  interest, 
she  contemplated  it  too.  "  I  was  very  romantic,  for 
one  thing,  and  also  rather  dissatisfied.  Once,  I  tried 
to  persuade  myself  —  having  read  of  such  things  in 
the  stories  —  that  I  might  have  belonged  to  some 
richer  and  finer  family  than  my  own  and  been  carried 
off  and  that  perhaps  there  would  be  an  inquiry  for  me 
some  day,  and  I  should  be  restored  to  my  ancestral 
rank.  Yes,  really,  as  silly  as  that !  I  used  to  think 
about  it  in  a  dreaming  way,  without  ever  looking  for 
the  evidence.  I  used  to  saj^  4  It  might  be,  you  know, 
—  it  might  be'  It  was  not  that  I  did  not  love  my 
own  family  dearly.  I  should  have  counted  on  coming 
back  to  them  in  my  magnificence,  and  sharing  it  with 
them.  But  somehow  things  seemed  so  commonplace 
in  our  tame  little  every-day  life.  Nothing  happened; 
and  there  was  so  much  that  I  wanted  and  could  not 
have." 

"  At  that  time  I  had  never  seen  the  sea,"  she  con- 
tinued, nor  even  the  lake  at  Chicago,  which  gives  a 
very  good  idea  of  it.  There  were  distant  blue  hills 
which  showed  at  the  end  of  the  road  near  where  we 
lived.  1  recollect  trying  to  make  believe  that  thej 
were  the  sea,  and  the  white  dots  of  houses  upon  them 
sails." 


FEASIBILITY    OF   PLATONIC   FRIENDSHIPS.  181 

The  young  girl's  curiosity  about  the  sea  was  really 
satisfied  for  the  first  time  when  she  went  with  her 
uncle  to  the  gay  bathing  beach  of  Coney  Island.  She 
did  not  soon  lose  her  pleasure  in  it. 

Bainbridge's  aversion  to  day  excursions  did  not 
now  seem  to  hold  good.  He  made  very  many  of 
them,  taking  the  boat  at  the  foot  of  a  street  near  his 
office,  and  had  long  promenades  with  Ottilie  up  and 
down  the  spacious  piazzas  of  the  hotels,  and  long 
strolls  on  the  sands. 

"  I  am  told  that  this  island  is  something  like  the 
Lido  at  Venice,  where  Byron  galloped  composing  his 
poems,"  said  Ottilie. 

"  I  dare  say  that  is  what  Mrs.  Anne  Arundel  Clum 
is  doing  now,"  returned  Bainbridge,  remarking  at 
the  moment  a  mutual  acquaintance  of  the  spring. 
"  She  is  riding  wildly  back  .and  forth  in  the  omnibus. 
She  has  passed  three  times  within  half  an  hour." 

They  talked  of  "  studying  the  people,"  as  they 
looked  at  them  from  the  piazzas. 

"  But  they  will  not  keep  still  for  you,"  complained 
Ottilie.  "  If  I  were  a  despot,  I  should  have  those  who 
interested  me  stopped,  and  detained  till  I  was  through 
with  them.  I  think  I  do  not  care  for  such  superfi- 
cial study." 

"  Study  me,  then.  I  will  keep  still  as  long  as  you 
like.  Talk  of  understanding  other  people,  I  wish 
somebody  would  tell  me,  how^  I  am  going  to  turn  out. 
I  should  be  very  much  obliged  to  anybody  who  would 
do  it." 

"  I  was  spoiled  and  too  pampered  in  my  bringing 
up.''  he  complained.  "  1  had  everything  too  regular 
and  conventional.  The  pine-knot  and  cabin  floor 
principle  is  the  thing." 


182  THE   HOUSE    OF    A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

"  The  pine-knot  and  cabin-floor  principle?  " 

"  Yes.  I  should  have  read  Virgil  by  the  flicker- 
ing light  of  a  backlog  while  stretched  prone  on  the 
hearth.  I  should  have  learned  Euclid  at  the  gray  of 
dawn,  and  in  short  respites  from  hoeing  corn  and 
chopping  down  the  forest  primeval.  —  Those  are  the 
fellows  who  come  to  the  front.  I  ought  to  have 
taught  school  winters  and  taken  eight  years  to  go 
through,  college  instead  of  four." 

"  Those  are  the  fellows,"  he  repeated,  pursing  his 
lips,  and  nodding  with  a  sagacious  air. 

"  That  often  results  in  offensive  egotism  and  ped- 
antry. They  succeed  in  spite  of  their  obstacles,  not 
because  of  them,  do  they  not?"  discriminated  Ot- 
tilie. 

The  island,  which  from  the  steamer's  deck,  was  a 
more  ephemeral  Venice,  of  wood  and  canvas,  deco- 
rated as  for  the  carnival,  was  at  the  centre  and  one 
end  a  tinkling  Vanity  Fair  of  hotels,  pavilions,  and 
gay  bungalows,  devoted  to  the  thousand  amusements 
of  such  a  time  and  place.  Towards  the  other  end  a 
comparative  isolation  reigned.  The  waves  broke 
there,  little  troubled  by  bathers,  and  but  a  few  prom- 
enaders  strayed  along  a  wide  beach  of  silvery  white 
sand.  Back  from  the  beach  were  sand  dunes  carven 
into  sharp  curves,  always  shifting,  and  interspersed 
with  bay  shrubs  and  dwarf  cedars. 

The  black  rib  or  two  of  a  wrecked  vessel,  pro- 
jecting above  the  surface,  made  a  convenient  seat. 
Thither  our  couple  betook  themselves. 

They  watched  the  floods  run  up  the  sands,  the  foam 
and  green  translucences  in  the  tops  of  the  breakers, 
and  the  serene  peace  of  the  blue  field  beyond.  An 
occasional  fishing  boat  or  yawl  came  rolling  and  turn 


FEASIBILITY   OF   PLATONIC   FRIENDSHIPS.  183 

bling  up  in  the  surf  close  by  them.  Sometimes  the 
shadows  of  clouds  crossed  the  field,  making  it  black 
and  purple  where  they  moved.  The  remoter  sails 
were  lily  white  in  the  sun,  and  of  a  faint  azure 
against  it.  There  were  always  distant  vessels,  over 
by  the  Highlands  of  the  Navesink,  hull  down,  as  if 
calmly  foundering,  instead  of  climbing  up  or  going 
down  the  horizon,  as  they  were. 

"  We  are  in  too  great  haste  to  press  on,"  said  Bain- 
bridge,  gazing  out  at  the  prospect  with  half-shut  eyes. 
"At  least,  I  speak  only  for  myself.  We  impatient 
ones  are  apt  to  think  too  much  of  what  we  cannot  do 
and  cannot  have,  instead  of  what  we  can  do  and  have. 
We  are  like  the  Irishman  hanging  on  under  the 
bridge  who  let  go  to  get  a  better  hold.  Now,  this, 
—  what  could  be  more  perfect  ?  A  lovely  impression 
should  be  cherished  as  long  as  possible.  To  lie  and 
gaze  at  the  sea  might  be  a  career  in  itself." 

"  It  makes  one  melancholy,"  Ottilie  returned  ;  "  but 
one  likes  a  little  of  that.  Perhaps  a  touch  of  it  is  al- 
ways desirable  in  the  most  perfect  state  of  mind. 
When  I  am  happy  I  do  not  feel  quite  well.  —  There, 
that  is  like  one  of  your  absurdities !  But  what  I 
mean  to  say  is  that  when  things  have  gone  exactly 
right,  when  some  favorite  object  has  been  attained, 
and  for  the  moment  nothing  more  seems  left  to  wish 
for,  there  is  an  over-elation  and  a  slight  sense  of  va- 
cancy. I  lose  my  appetite,  I  cannot  sleep,  and  find 
myself  presently  going  about  with  a  headache,  just  as 
it"  it  were  trouble  that  had  arrived.  How  strange  we 
are !  " 

They  noted  one  day  near  them  on  the  sands  a  couple, 
from  Ottilie's  hotel,  whom  they  knew  to  be  engaged. 
This  pair  reclined  under  umbrellas,  and  the  man  was 


184  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

reading  aloud,  as  they  could  observe,  with  an  ani- 
mated pleasure  in  the  text.  The  young  woman 
looked  about  her,  and  yawned  behind  her  fan.  But 
when  appealed  to  with  some  question  or  comment 
she  affected  an  interest  equal  to  his  own. 

Our  friends  agreed  that  a  tragedy  was  preparing 
there,  in  such  an  evident  difference  of  tastes. 

"  Probably  nothing  in  the  world  could  be  worse," 
exclaimed  Bainbridge.  "  The  infernal  duration  of  it ! 
To  have  a  partner  at  one's  side,  mingled  in  every- 
thing, yet  always  remaining  a  stranger.  She  is  chilly, 
unappreciative,  plans  apart  for  her  own  instead  of  the 
common  weal,  and  finalty,  no  doubt,  seeks  her  ideal 
elsewhere.  It  is  amusing  to  the  newspapers  and 
playwrights,  but  it  is  death  to  the  participants." 

"The  great  point,  after  all,"  he  dogmatized,  "is 
whether  she  will  stick  to  a  fellow,  —  whether  she 
will  pull  through  thick  and  thin  with  him." 

"  One  would  want  to  find  perfect  rest  in  marriage," 
he  continued,  enlarging  on  the  subject  in  a  manner 
for  the  time  being  at  variance  with  that  in  which  he 
was  accustomed  to  speak  of  Miss  Golconda  Harring- 
ton and  his  proposed  manoeuvres  for  her  fortune. 
"  One  would  not  want  to  be  always  on  the  stretch, 
mentally,  either  ;  he  could  not  afford  to  be  on  a  per- 
petual picnic.  He  ought  to  get  somebody  who  could 
discount  him  fifty  per  cent.,  and  like  him  even  then. 
It  should  be  somebody  who,  in  consideration  of  know- 
ing that  he  was  immensely  fond  of  her,  and  always 
meant  to  do  what  was  for  her  happiness,  even  if  he 
did  not  succeed,  could  like  him  even  when  she  found 
that  he  was  twice  as  stupid  as  she  had  supposed. 
There  is  little  doubt  that  with  the  best  of  dispositions 
and    the    most   favorable  circumstances    there    must 


FEASIBILITY   OF   PLATONIC   FRIENDSHIPS.  185 

come  some  dreary  times  after  the  wedding.  They 
come  even  to  intimate  friends,  who  have  no  bonds  to 
hold  them  together,  and  how  much  more  to  married 
couples  ?  " 

"  I  knoiv  it,"  assented  Ottilie,  as  if  she  also  gave 
up  this  poor  human  nature  of  ours  in  despair. 

"  But  a  wife  might  enter  more  into  her  husband's 
affairs,  I  suppose,  than  some  do,"  she  went  on,  "  that 
would  be  one  resource.  Then  she  could  read  the 
papers,  and  talk  with  him  about  them.  —  But  you 
speak  only  of  the  man  ;  you  do  not  say  anything  of 
the  allowances  to  be  made  on  the  woman's  side.  Of 
course,  she  would  have  to  be  discounted,  too,  as  you 
call  it,  just  as  much." 

"  I  do  not  admit  it.  She  has  her  feminine  attrac- 
tions, her  pretty  looks,  added  to  the  count.  A  man 
is  not  supposed  to  have  any  particular  looks,  but  the 
first  duty  of  a  woman  is  to  be  charming.  A  number 
of  celebrated  poets  have  said  that,  and  I  agree  to  it. 
The  first  duty  of  a  woman  is  to  be  charming." 

"  Nonsense !  That  is  the  way  men  are  always 
talking.  Little  enough  they  know  about  it.  They 
mean,  I  suppose,  that  she  ought  to  be  as  vain  as  pos- 
sible, and  devote  her  whole  silly  existence  to  prepar- 
ing new  toilettes.  /  say  that  she  ought  to  cut  her 
hair  short,  wear  spectacles,  and  bloomer  costume,  and 
pay  attention  to  nothing  but  the  useful." 

"  Are  there  no  rack  and  gibbet  for  such  heresy  ?  " 
cried  the  young  man,  springing  to  his  feet. 

But  a  part  of  his  motive  in  rising  was  apparently 
to  "  skip  "  a  flat  stone  along  the  tops  of  the  waves, 
for  he  sat  down  again  on  the  piece  of  wreck,  and  re- 
sumed, 

"  Women  do  not  know  what  they  are  liked  for  — 


186  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

not  one  of  them  in  a  thousand.  That  is  the  trouble. 
They  Lad  better  read  the  poets  and  find  out.  It 
would  largely  reduce  the  business  in  the  divorce 
courts.  As  an  imitation  man,  woman  is  not  a  suc- 
cess. A  man  does  not  marry  to  have  merely  a  rough, 
undelightful  companion  like  himself.  Nor  is  it,  I 
should  say,  the  undiluted  ambition  to  have  children, 
about  whom  there  is  no  certainty  that  they  will  sur- 
pass —  even  if  they  equal  —  his  own  very  moderate 
level.  He  has  no  complexion,  no  dimples,  no  dang- 
ling ear-rings  that  cast  little  shadows  on  his  cheeks. 
Small  pleasure  too,  I  imagine,  can  be  got  out  of  his 
way  of  doing  his  hair,  or  out  of  the  bending  of  his 
neck,  or  the  intonations  of  his  voice.  I  should  really 
be  glad  to  know  what  there  is  in  him  corresponding 
to  all  this  for  a  woman  to  like  !  " 

It  might  almost  have  been  thought,  as  he  regarded 
her,  that  it  was  from  herself  he  drew  the  attractive 
details  he  so  warmly  cited. 

"A  woman  would  like  wawliness,  I  should  say," 
she  replied  hesitatingly. 

"  A  man  of  the  right  sort  wants  some  one  to  ideal- 
ize," said  Bainbridge.  "  He  wants  to  put  her  on  a 
pedestal,  and  be  rapturous  about  her.  If  she  will  do 
nothing  on  her  side  to  keep  up  the  illusion,  what  are 
you  to  expect  ?  " 

u  But  how  about  the  irredeemably  plain  ones  ?  " 

"  There  are  none  such,"  he  replied  gallantly. 
"Fortunately,  we  do  not  all  see  with  the  same  eyes. 
And  if  there  be  gradations  of  beauty,  as  we  must 
admit,  and  some  of  it  that  almost  approaches  ugli- 
ness, by  the  general  verdict,  no  doubt  interior  quali- 
ties are  developed  as  a  compensation.  The  irritation 
in  the  oyster-shell  produces  the  pearl  ;  the  wrong  side 
of  the  rug  is  often  of  a  subdued  richness,  surpassing 


FEASIBILITY    OF   PLATONIC   FRIENDSHIPS.  187 

the  right ;  and  hyacinths  give  out  their  sweetest  fra- 
grance at  night." 

"  But  I  can  tell  you  that  a  woman  has  her  notions  of 
self-sacrifice  and  idealizing,  too.  If  it  be  the  wish  of 
a  man  of  the  right  sort  to  put  her  on  a  pedestal,  and 
of  a  woman  of  the  right  sort  to  place  him  there,  what 
is  going  to  be  done  when  they  meet.  What  a  sculp- 
ture gallery  kind  of  a  time  they  must  have  !  " 

"  Oh,  that  is  simple  enough.  They  never  do 
meet." 

They  paced  slowly  homeward  from  these  confer- 
ences at  the  wreck,  leaving  long  wavering  lines  of 
footsteps  behind  them.  There  was  a  heavy  unrestful, 
erratic,  larger  pair,  and  a  light  clear-cut,  sincere, 
perhaps  gently-coquettish,  smaller  pair.  Here  and 
there  they  had  paused.  Ottilie,  drew  letters  in  the 
sand,  or,  bending  lithe  as  a  spear  of  the  gray  beach- 
grass,  described  large  circles  nonchalantly  around  lier 
with  her  parasol.  Or  they  picked  up  and  discussed 
some  curious  bit  of  sea-weed  or  a  bright  pebble  or 
shell. 

"  What  is  the  name  of  it  ?  "  Bainbridge  asked  con- 
cerning one  of  these  last,  since  his  companion  had 
shown  a  recondite  acquaintance  with  the  subject. 

"  You  would  not  remember  if  I  should  tell  you," 
was  the  roguish  answer  with  which  she  covered  her 
own  ignorance. 

Then  she  placed  the  shell  against  one  cheek  and 
the  other,  taking  attitudes  of  mincing  affectation,  and 
cried,  — 

"  The  first  duty  of  a  woman  is  to  be  charming  !  " 

It  would  have  been  a  fitting  penalty  for  such  mock- 
ery to  cover  her  with  a  thousand  kisses  ;  —  but  only 
as  a  friend;  —  surely  only  in  the  way  of  platonic 
friendship  and  nothing  more. 


XIV. 

CROSS  PURPOSES  AT  A  NEWPORT  VILLA. 

"When  all  that  was  possible  had  been  done  in  town, 
Rodman  Harvey  took  his  niece  to  Newport.  He  left 
her  there,  presently,  with  his  family,  and  went  away 
to  Saratoga,  to  attend  a  convention  of  railway  mag- 
nates. 

It  was  thought,  too,  that  the  waters  would  be  of 
benefit  in  his  slight  attacks  of  vertigo,  to  which  he 
began  to  be  subject  with  increasing  frequency. 

Bainbridge  repaired  to  Newport  also.  Because  a 
person  has  postponed  his  vacation  a  little,  that  is  no 
reason  why  he  should  abandon  it  altogether.  It  is 
still  quite  warm  enough  at  the  middle  of  September 
to  make  a  more  refreshing  temperature  than  that  of 
the  city  desirable. 

No  definite  purpose  ruled  his  proceedings.  He 
had  nothing  that  he  was  about  to  do,  nothing  that  he 
was  about  to  say.  He  looked  forward  only  to  a  con- 
tinuance of  his  pleasant  intercourse  with  Ottilie. 
Obstacles,  which  he  had  not  quite  foreseen,  however, 
arose  out  of  her  new  situation,  the  number  of  people 
with  whom  she  was  involved,  and  the  whirl  of  gay- 
eties.  He  found  himself  annoyed  at  first  because 
he  could  not  see  her  often  enough.  But  later  there 
was  something  even  more  serious. 

A  fortnight  had  elapsed  when  the  young  man 
came  strolling  along  the  Cliff  Walk,  which  by  cour- 


CROSS   PURPOSES   AT   A   NEWPORT    VILLA.  189 

tesy  of  proprietors,  passes,  through  turnstiles,  along 
the  borders  of  the  estates.  He  found  Ottilie  with  a 
book  in  a  summer-house  above  the  water.  The  tawny- 
haired  Calista,  amusing  herself  on  the  beach  below, 
climbed  up  occasionally  to  take  advice  upon  some 
new  marine  discovery. 

Bainbridge  explained  in  a  matter-of-course  sort  of 
way  that  he  had  felt  the  need  of  a  little  change,  after 
all,  and  found  Newport  as  good  a  place  for  it  as  any 
other. 

Ottilie  pulled  to  pieces  as  they  talked  some  coarse 
daisies,  gathered  for  her  by  Calista  from  amid  the 
hay  which  was  being  cut  on  the  lawns.  Afterwards 
she  read  aloud  in  a  pleasantly  murmurous  voice  some 
portions  of  Elaine,  in  the  "  Idyls  of  the  King,"  the 
book  she  had  with  her.  Then  she  rehearsed  her  new 
experiences. 

"  The  Emperor  of  Brazil  has  been  here,"  she  said. 
"  I  have  seen  also  an  English  duke,  an  Italian  prince, 
with  a  delightfully  musical  name,  and  a  Danubian 
princess,  who  is  also  a  literary  '  swell.'  As  to  cabi- 
net ministers,  governors  of  States,  senators,  and  gold- 
laced  army  and  navy  officers,  both  domestic  and  for- 
eign, they  are  too  numerous  to  mention." 

"  And  you  are  in  the  midst  of  all  this  and  a  part 
of  it?" 

"  Only  a  very  little  in  the  margin  of  the  stream, 
not  in  the  current.  But  Angelica  is  in  the  current ; 
ah,  yes,  indeed.  For  her  it  id  an  incessant  round  of 
dinners,  balls,  theatricals,  fetes-champ  etres,  and  arch- 
ery and  lawn-tennis  parties  at  one  of  the  beautiful 
villas  after  another.  Or  else  she  is  driving  on  Ocean 
Avenue;  witnessing  the  polo  games,  or  the  shooting 
or   swimming   matches  ;    going    to    sessions    of    the 


190  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

1  Town  and  Country  Club,'  or  the  '  West  Island 
Club's  '  bass-fishing  picnics  ;  or  dancing  on  the  yachts 
and  men-of-war  in  the  harbor.  It  almost  makes 
one's  head  whirl  even  to  be  in  the  margin.  I  have 
been  out  to  some  of  the  simpler  entertainments  and 
we  have  a  fair  share  of  it  all  of  course  at  our  house. 
I  begin  to  consider  myself  quite  a  connoisseur  in 
social  matters." 

"  And  what  difference  do  you  find  between  fash- 
ionable society  here  and  at  your  Great  West  ?  You 
should  be  able  now  to  define  our  salient  points,  as 
distinguished  from  those  of  your  Cincinnatis  and 
Chicagos." 

"  I  should  say  that  there  was  more  ease  in  enter- 
taining here.  So  much  of  it  goes  on  that  people 
make  a  less  important  matter  of  it.  Then  there  is 
the  class  of  purely  fashionable  young  men,  who  make 
no  pretense  of  an  occupation  in  life.  We  have  very 
few  of  them  as  yet.  But  I  dare  say  you  are  expect- 
ing me  to  make  wholesale  admissions  of  inferior- 
ity?" 

"I  thought  perhaps  you  might  have  grown  candid 
enough  for  that  by  this  time." 

"  Then  you  will  be  very  much  mistaken.  I  wish 
I  could  see  you  try  to  pick  out,  by  any  difference 
of  looks  and  manners,  some  elegant  Cleveland  people 
who  were  here  last  week.  No !  Our  society  is 
formed  by  exactly  the  same  influences  —  I  mean  the 
main  influences,  —  as  yours.  It  reads  the  same  things, 
sees  the  same  musical  and  dramatic  companies, — 
they  all  come  to  us  after  leaving  you  —  has  the  same 
styles  in  dress,  and  the  same  trips  to  Europe.  The 
boys  come  to  the  Eastern  colleges,  and  the  girls,  as 
often  as  not,  to  the  fashionable  New  York  schools, 


CROSS   PURPOSES   AT    A   NEWPORT    VILLA.  191 

where  they  are  said  to  learn  to  enter  a  room  or  a  car- 
riage properly." 

"  Some  of  them  afterwards  have  no  carriages  to 
enter,"  she  added,  "  which,  no  doubt,  results  in  more 
or  less  unhappiness." 

Bainbridge  admired  the  vein  of  excellent  good 
sense  which  underlay  all  of  her  opinions. 

"  But  now,  the  coming  young  millionaire,"  he  said, 
"  has  he  turned  up  yet  ?  " 

44  Not  yet,"  she  answered,  laughing.  "  That  is  to 
say,  unless  we  count  Air.  Kingbolt,  who  has  chosen 
to  be  really  quite  civil  to  me.  Now  I  think  of  it, 
he  is  the  one  we  selected,  is  he  not  ?  Well,  he  lias 
not  proposed  to  me  :  but  I  am  sure  that  a  number  of 
other  girls,  of  much  more  importance,  must  have  be- 
gun to  be  jealous." 

"  Now,  there  is  an  absurd  passion,"  —  said  Bain- 
bridge presently,  seizing  the  pretext  for  airing  a  fa- 
vorite opinion.  "  If  you  like  a  person,  you  like  him, 
for  cause,  for  reasons  good  and  satisfactory  to  your- 
self. It  is  not  because  you  see  him  run  after  by 
other  people.  That  is,  supposing  you  to  be  a  person 
of  independent  judgment  and  not  a  mere  servile 
imitator.  The  reasons  are  not  always  easy  to  give, 
and  they  vary  in  each  case,  or  we  should  all  be  fas- 
cinated by  the  same  person  ;  but  they  exist  all  the 
same." 

"  But  all  the  novelists  use  jealousy  as  an  incen- 
tive," urged  Ottilie. 

"  They  are  as  wrong  about  that  as  their  descriptions 
of  the  inducements  to  fall  in  love  generally.  They 
usually  make  it  depend  upon  some  astonishing  feats, 
some  heroic  saving  of  life,  fortune,  or  sacred  honor, 
by  one  or  both  of  the  parties,  for  each  other.     As  a 


192  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

matter  of  fact,  not  one  match  in  a  hundred  thousand 
is  made  in  that  way.  Lovers  like  to  assume,  of 
course,  that  they  would  do  those  things  for  each 
other,  aud  perhaps  they  would  ;  but  the  occasions 
do  not  offer.  The  couple  simpty  walk,  talk,  and 
dance  a  little  together,  are  pleased  with  each  other's 
looks,  study  out  such  bits  of  each  other's  character  at 
they  can,  and  presently  the  thing  is  done." 

Fearing,  perhaps,  some  personal  application  from 
this,  he  added  as  an  after-thought,  — 

"  Of  course,  persons  do  not  necessarily  fall  in  love 
after  having  been  through  such  a  course  as  this,  but 
they  fall  in  love  when  they  have  not  been  through 
a  blessed  thing  else." 

The  sea  lay  before  them,  blue  and  formal,  in  a  wide 
band  as  it  appears  in  the  scenery  of  theatres.  The 
locusts  rattled  in  some  trees  near  by.  The  heated 
atmosphere  had  a  wavering  motion  near  the  ground. 
Tepid  puffs  from  the  lawn,  mingling  with  the  cooler 
breezes  from  the  water,  brought  odors  of  the  new- 
mown  hay. 

The  Harvey  villa  crowned  the  long,  gentle  slope. 
It  was  of  wood,  painted  in  tones  of  Indian  red  and 
yellow  ochre,  and  had  numerous  turrets,  dormers, 
and  ornamented  chimney  stacks.  Upon  the  wide 
piazzas  were  willow  arm-chairs  with  cushions.  An 
end  of  bright  curtain  stuff  floated  from  an  up  pen- 
window  here  and  there.  A  tent,  with  tall  spears  and 
tasseled  cords,  like  that  of  a  Persian  satrap,  was 
pitched  near  the  house.  Portable  fountains  attached 
to  rubber  hose  whirled  their  arms  wildly  about,  like 
dancing  dervishes,  and  sprayed  portions  of  the  lawn 
and  large  well-kept  beds  of  bluish  heliotrope,  scarlet 
geraniums,  and   gray  and  purple    coleus,  with    tall, 


CROSS   PURPOSES   AT   A   NEWPORT   VILLA.  193 

large-leaved  plants  of  the  Carina  Indica,  rising  from 
the  midst. 

Our  friends  ranged,  in  the  pleasant  desultory  way 
they  had,  over  a  wide  variety  of  topics. 

Ottilie  was  a  person  of  large  reading.  She  had 
read  everything  that  came  in  her  way.  Such,  she 
confessed,  had  been  her  plan,  or  lack  of  plan.  She 
had  a  fresh  eager  interest,  which  hardly  excluded 
information  of  any  kind  from  its  scope.  She  often 
surprised  Bainbridge  by  her  excursions,  acute  as  well 
as  vivacious,  into  some  of  the  graver  fields  of  thought, 
into  which  such  a  person  would  not  have  been  con- 
sidered likely  to  enter. 

"  '  Learning  not  vain,  and  wisdom  not  severe,'  "  he 
said,  playfully,  applying  to  her  this  description  of 
what  is  probably  quite  the  ideal  manner  of  carrying 
off  such  knowledge  as  one  possesses. 

"  No,  I  am  a  mere  collection  of  smatterings,"  she 
declared,  repudiating  it,  and  began  to  ridicule  her 
own  pedantry. 

"  I  shall  never  admit  that.  And  besides,  it  is  not 
what  we  know,  but  what  we  would  like  to  know, 
what  our  interest  goes  out  to,  that  makes  us  what  we 
are.     Do  you  not  think  so?  " 

"  Yes,  I  suppose  it  is,"  said  Ottilie. 

They  discoursed  among  other  tilings  on  religion,  as 
two  intelligent  young  Americans  thrown  together  in 
any  degree  of  intimacy  are  soon  apt  to  do. 

"My  family  is  thoroughly  on  the  American  plan 
in  that  respect,"  said  Ottilie.  kt  My  father  is  Uni- 
tarian, my  mother  Presbyterian,  and  I  Episcopalian. 
My  brother  is  touched  with  some  indefinite  skeptical 
notions,  which  I  do  not  pretend  to  understand.  He 
calls  himself  at  present  an  Agnostic,  — whatever  that 
18 


194  THE    HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

may  be.  There  is  no  permanent  support  for  a  Uni- 
tarian service  at  Lone  Tree,  so  my  illogical  father  goes 
to  church  occasionally  with  my  mother  or  me.  I  was 
originally  Presbyterian  myself.  It  was  the  dignity 
and  color  of  Episcopalian  ism,  I  think,  that  caused  me 
to  change." 

"  I  dare  say  I  should  have  to  call  myself  Agnostic, 
too,  if  I  called  myself  anything,"  returned  Bain- 
bridge.  One  seems  to  arrive  at  that  after  going  the 
rounds,  just  as  the  union  of  all  colors  produces  white, 
you  know." 

"Suppose  you  tell  me  just  what  an  Agnostic  is, 
now  that  the  opportunity  offers.  I  shall  confront 
Paul  with  it." 

"  The  Agnostic,  I  take  it,  is  a  person  who,  having 
shaken  off  the  theological  burdens  he  once  carried, 
hardly  knows  any  longer  what  he  believes,  or,  worse 
yet,  perhaps  does  not  greatly  care.  Such  a  pass 
seems  characteristic  of  the  times.  One  is  rather 
drawn  into  it  through  remarking  the  outrageous 
things  that  church  people  are  constantly  doing,  — 
though  we  understand,  of  course,  that  it  is  in  spite 
of,  and  not  in  consequence  of,  their  system." 

"  Oh,  I  am  sorry,"  said  his  companion.  "  It  can- 
not be  a  very  comfortable  state  of  mind.  I  am  sure 
that  my  brother  is  not  happy.  At  least  he  will  not 
be  permanently,  though  just  now  he  is  so  very  con- 
sequential about  his  new  opinions  that  he  will  not 
hear  a  word  of  opposition." 

"It  is  not  a  very  profitable  one,  at  any  rate,  and 
you  will  find  me  far  from  consequential  about  it.  It 
is  a  state  of  mind,  too,  that  extends  itself  over  things 
in  general.  It  begets  too  great  an  impartiality.  It 
is  a  soporific   and   not  a  stimulant.     One  course  of 


CROSS   PURPOSES   AT   A   NEWPORT    VILLA.  195 

action  is  apt  to  appear  about  as  good  as  another.  I 
think  I  have  felt  it  even  in  those  small  articles  for 
the  papers.  One  should  be  something  of  a  fanatic. 
How  can  he  take  on  indignant  airs,  browbeat  and 
scathe  the  opposition,  when  himself  only  half  con- 
vinced? How  do  I  know  whether  I  am  actually  for 
free  trade  or  protection,  soft  money  or  hard,  the  con- 
trol of  the  corporations  by  the  people,  or  of  the  peo- 
ple by  the  corporations,  in  the  usual  way,  when  so 
much  is  to  be  said  on  the  other  side  ?  " 

"  Then  why  not  get  out  of  such  a  state  of  mind  ?  " 

"  Ah,  that  is  a  very  different  matter." 

"  But  you  must  have  convictions.  I  must  give  you 
some  of  mine.  Now  let  us  begin.  You  believe  in  a 
future  state  ?  " 

"  What  do  some  people  want  to  live  forever  for," 
he  returned  evasively,  "  when  they  pass  the  life  they 
have  in  such  a  wretched,  petty  way?  What  do  they 
want  to  do  beyond  the  stars,  when  they  have  seen 
nothing  of  what  is  beautiful,  noble,  and  tender,  in 
this  world,  even  poor  as  it  is  ?  " 

She  argued  this  point  with  him,  insisting  on  the 
possibility  of  development  for  all. 

She  continually  said,  ;t  i"  would  not  do  this,"  "  1 
would  not  do  that,"  with  great  positiveness. 

'•'Four  convictions  are  clear-cut  enough,"  said  Bain- 
bridge.  "  You  would  be  a  sort  of  little  Lady  Macbeth 
of  the  exemplary  sort.  You  would  nerve  a  man  up  to 
deeds  of  desperate  rectitude." 

"Do  hear  me  talk!"  she  returned.  "Anybody 
would  think  I  meant  that  I  was  perfection,  but  I  am 
really  as  weak  as  water." 

She  cast  away  some  of  the  daisies  she  had  had  in 
her  hands,  and  brushed  fragments  of  others  from  her 


196  THE   HOUSE    OF  A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

lap  with  a  kind  of  final  air.    There  was  a  slight  pause 
in  the  conversation. 

"  What  pretty  hands  you  have  !  "  said  Bainbridge, 
presently,  as  if  observing  them  for  the  first  time. 

"  I  think  them  very  ugly,"  and  she  tucked  them 
into  her  belt. 

"  How  curious  it  is,"  she  reflected,  "  that  he  seems 
to  find  so  many  things  about  me  pleasing." 

44  Come,  let  us  see  what  lines  of  fate  are  written  in 
them.  Let  us  see  what  they  have  to  say  about  that 
coming  millionaire,"  he  demanded. 

This  was  no  doubt  permissible  between  friends. 
She  reluctantly  let  him  take  one  of  her  hands  in  his. 
Bainbridge  began  with  a  jargon  about  the  "  line  of 
life,"  the  "  line  of  the  heart,"  and  other  terms  of 
chiromancy. 

All  at  once  he  said,  "  Oh,  here  is  your  millionaire, 
sure  enough.  —  No  end  of  money.  He  will  be  a  per- 
fect Croesus." 

But  Ottilie  soon  drew  away  her  hand.  It  had 
been  nervous  and  foolishly  trembled  in  his  from 
the  first,  though  there  was  no  reason  why  it  should. 
She  pretended  to  need  it  to  point  in  an  enthusiastic 
wny  an  incoming  sail.  She  had  flushed  a  little,  and 
offered  no  comment  on  his  prophecies. 

That  was  a  charming  morning,  but  a  cloud  came 
over  it  at  the  close.  Nor  did  it  pass  like  some  that 
they  saw  occasionally  darken  along  the  ocean  before 
them.  It  expanded,  instead,  till  all  the  moral  heav- 
ens, for  them,  were  overcast  with  portents  of  the  com- 
ing storm. 

It  began,  perhaps,  with  an  account  by  Ottilie  of 
her  uncle's  fondness  for  cases  of  defalcation  and  for. 
gery,  as  heretofore  mentioned. 


CROSS    PURPOSES    AT    A    NEWPORT    VILLA.  197 

"  I  am  quite  at  home  in  them,  I  assure  you,"  she 
said.  "  There  is  a  general  similarity  in  all.  First, 
there  is  the  shock  of  discovery,  then  what  the  offi- 
cers of  the  institution  say,  then  what  the  neighbors 
and  friends  say,  and  what  the  pushing  reporters  try 
to  make  them  say,  when  they  do  not  wish  to  talk 
at  all.  Then  there  is  the  conviction  that  the  losses 
are  even  greater  than  at  first  supposed.  The  criminal 
flies  and  is  pursued.  Perhaps  he  escapes  to  foreign 
shores.  Or  he  is  arrested  and  thrown  into  a  common 
felon's  cell,  —  or  perhaps  he  commits  suicide.  All 
the  way  through  there  is  the  agony  of  his  stricken 
family,  possibly  the  insanity  of  one  of  its  members, 
broken  by  the  shame  and  grief  which  have  come 
upon  them." 

"  Pretty  hard  !  pretty  hard !  "  said  Bainbridge,  re- 
flectively. 

"Oil,  why  ivill  they  do  such  things?"  went  on 
the  young  enthusiast.  "  Why  cannot  this  dreadful 
temptation  that  drags  so  many  clown  be  resisted  ?  It 
seems  the  peculiar  vice  of  our  times.  The  fate  of  one 
does  not  deter  others.  Oh,  how  happy  one  ought  to 
be  who  is  even  honest !  It  seems  to  me  that  I  could 
see  gold  and  diamonds  around  me  mountains  high, 
and  never  touch  a  thing.  One  can  go  hungry  and 
ragged.  He  might  feel  like  a  soldier  on  the  march, 
who  has  to  go  in  the  storm  if  need  be,  or  when  he  is 
sick,  and  to  sleep  on  the  bare  ground,  and  dines  when 
he  can.  What  happens  then  is  not  his  own  fault; 
he  might  have  the  comfort,  at  least,  of  saying,  CI  do 
not  deserve  it.'  But  once  succumb  to  dishonesty  ; 
take  the  bread  of  others,  which  can  only  be  eaten  in 
shame;  and  bitterness  ;  once  straggle  from  the  ranks 
into  the  hands   of  the   guerillas  and  prowlers  of  the 


198  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCEc 

hostile  country,  —  ah,  what  comfort  is  open  to  him 
then  ?  " 

"  A  rather  odd  taste  in  your  uncle,  is  it  not  ?  " 

"  That  is  it,"  pursued  Ottilie.  "  It  sometimes 
puzzles  me.  He  even  expresses  sympathy,  which  I 
should  hardly  think  he  would,  since  he  is  so  precise 
in  his  own  ideas  of  rectitude  and  his  business  re- 
quirements." 

There  was  for  Bainbridge  an  unpleasant  sugges- 
tiveness  in  all  this.  The  vague  image  of  something 
uncanny  which  might  have  been  done  by  Rodman 
Harvey  seemed  to  follow  him  with  a  haunting  per- 
tinacity. His  thoughts  went  back  to  Gammage, 
Jocelyn,  and  the  palaver  of  old  McFadd  in  Harvey's 
Terrace.  He  gave  his  companion  involuntarily  one 
of  those  glances  betraying  disquietude,  in  which  in- 
telligence outruns  speech,  as  electricity  outruns  the 
mail. 

It  passed  in  an  instant,  however,  and  the  bulk  of 
his  trouble  was  to  come  from  another  source. 

The  interview  was  now  broken  in  upon  by  King- 
bolt of  Kingboltsville.  This  fortunate  person,  look- 
ing particularly  well  in  a  suit  of  white  flannel, 
carrying  one  hand  in  a  pocket  of  the  easy  jacket, 
came  along  the  Cliff  Walk  also,  and  joined  them. 
He  sat  down,  and  had  evidently  no  intention  of  at 
once  going  away.  Bainbridge  was  surprised  at  his 
intimacy  with  Ottilie.  From  a  number  of  references 
it  appeared  that  they  had  talked  together  not  a  little 
before. 

Bainbridge  had  taken  what  she  had  said  of  King- 
bolt as  banter,  of  course.  She  had  said  "civil,"  and 
he  had  understood  civility,  or  almost  that  —  but  this 
was  something  very  different. 


CROSS   PURPOSES   AT   A   NEWPORT    VILLA.  199 

He  went  away  himself  in  a  reflective  mood,  leaving 
them  together. 

"  It  looks  as  though  people  were  treating  her  very- 
well, "  lie  said.  "  It  looks  as  though  she  were  having 
4  a  good  time.'  Well,  I  am  glad  of  that.  It  is  as  it 
should  be." 

Kingbolt,  was  in  fact,  hovering  about  Ottilie  a 
good  deal  at  this  time.  His  motive  must  have  been 
a  touch  of  that  charming,  pathetic  sentiment  which 
leads  the  ardent  lover  to  invest  with  a  part  of  the 
same  fond  interest  both  the  family  of  the  beloved  and 
everything  in  her  vicinity.  It  is  something  even  to 
be  near  those  who  have  been  near  her. 

Kingbolt  had  come  back  considering  himself  cured. 
But  he  had  fallen  in  with  Angelica  again,  and  his 
infatuation  was  again  renewed.  He  had  made  new 
advances,  which  had  been  repulsed,  as  of  old.  As 
Angelica  would  hardly  receive  him,  he  bethought  him 
then  of  the  pretext  of  calling  upon  Ottilie.  Ottilie 
was  at  first  puzzled  quite  as  much  as  complimented. 
She  hardly  knew  whether  it  was  even  permissible  to 
decline  the  attentions  of  so  magnificent  a  personage. 
But  he  talked  to  her  more  and  more  about  Angelica, 
and  at  last  took  her  into  his  confidence.  She  had  by 
no  means  desired  his  secret,  but  having  it,  thought  it 
no  more  than  right  to  keep  it  intact.  She  had  been 
obliged  to  study  till  her  resources  of  non-committalism, 
however,  in  dealing  with  him  on  this  subject. 

"Why,"  he  exclaimed,  "  did  she  choose  Sprowle 
above  all  others?  On  what  grounds  could  she  bring 
herself  to  like  him  ?  If  she  had  taken  one  of  the 
first-class  foreign  titles,  as  she  might  very  well  have 
done,  a  person  of  distinction,  of  line  presence, — 
anybody,  in  short,  but  Sprowle,"  —  and  lie  dismissed 
his  unwitting  rival  with  an  air  of  contempt. 


200  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

Ottilie  replied  guardedly.  "  Of  course  Mr. 
Sprowle  is  of  a  very  distinguished  family.  His  con- 
nections are  very  influential.  His  mother  boasts  that 
the  Sprowles  were  of  high  consideration  when  the 
Rifflards  were  trading  coon-skins  with  the  Indians, 
the  Antrama  trotting  the  Irish  bogs,  and  the  Gold- 
stones  their  native  German  cabbage  fields.  As  to 
marrying  a  title,  I  have  heard  my  cousin  express 
dissatisfaction  with  the  way  that  kind  of  match  often 
turns  out.  She  says  that  she  long  ago  decided 
against  surrendering  her  own  notions  to  those  of  a 
foreign  and  very  different  social  system,  and  immur- 
ing herself  perhaps  in  some  old  feudal  castle,  beyond 
all  legitimate  opportunities  of  resistance,  should  need 
arise." 

There  could  have  been  no  great  amount  either  of 
new  information  or  of  comfort  in  what  Ottilie  said, 
but  the  erratic  young  man  found  a  relief  even  in  the 
privilege  of  talking  freely  of  the  cause  of  his  pains. 

When  Bainbridge  made  his  call  the  next  day,  Ot- 
tilie was  really  engaged  in  matters  which  prevented 
her  seeing  him.  He  wandered  aimlessly  about  New- 
port. The  next  day  he  found  her  on  the  piazza,  it  is 
true,  but  Kingbolt  was  with  her.  On  the  next,  King- 
bolt came  up  within  five  minutes. 

Angelica  too  arrived  this  day,  on  horseback,  with 
a  groom  behind  her.  She  wore  her  dark  green 
riding-habit,  which  fitted  her  figure  to  perfection,  and 
her  silk  hat  shone  with  an  exceptional  lustre.  She 
was  in  good  spirits,  and  caracoled  her  horse  in  a  pe- 
culiar way  as  she  came  up  to  the  block. 

"  Where  did  you  get  that  trick  ?  "  asked  Kingbolt, 
affecting  with  her  an  ease  he  by  no  means  felt. 

"  From     Monsieur     Meigs,    my    riding-master    at 


CROSS   PURPOSES   AT    A   NEWPORT    VILLA.  201 

Paris,"  .she  explained,  but  more  to  the  company  than 
her  questioner,  "  Twenty  francs  a  lesson,  and 
twenty  more  for  the  two  horses.  I  used  to  ride  with 
him  in  the  Bois.  No  nonsense  with  M.  Meigs,  no 
staring  about,  no  frivolity.  '  Eyes  between  your 
horse's  ears,  mademoiselle  ! '  Yes,  M'seu  Meigs,  — 
M'seu  Meigs."  She  straightened  herself  up  and  as- 
sumed a  very  stiff  position  in  the  saddle,  in  imitation 
of  the  bluff  and  centaur- like  aspect  of  her  former 
English  riding-master. 

When  she  had  dismounted  she  sat  and  talked  a 
while,  rattling  her  whip  on  the  floor  of  the  piazza. 

"  They  let  me  have  a  pet  black  and  tan,  at  school, " 
she  said.  "  If  you  could  have  seen  the  bills  for  that 
animal  !  I  suppose  I  was  perfectly  robbed  in  every 
way,  in  those  times.  So  much  for  the  dog's  food,  so 
much  for  dog's  house,  so  much  for  cutting  dog's  ears. 
Poor  Niniche  might  as  well  have  been  an  elephant. 
Dear  me,  I  am  glad  it  all  is  over.  Such  extraordi- 
nary governesses  as  we  had  !  There  was  one  I  re- 
member, who  kept  her  head  tied  up  in  a  green  veil. 
She  was  of  such  a  fascinating  ugliness  that,  posi- 
tively—  I  happened  to  be  looking  at  her  one  day  at 
dinner,  when  she  indignantly  sent  her  plate  to  me  by 
the  servant,  pretending  that  I  was  trying  to  notice 
how  much  she  ate.  The  singing  assistant  at  the  same 
school  had  the  most  extraordinary  mouth  !  I  told 
her  frankly  one  day  that  I  did  not  wish  to  learn  a 
method  which  disfigured  people  for  life  in  that  way." 

Some  small  trait  of  parsimony,  or  shaft  of  cruelty 
which  had  been  directed  at  the  expense  of  the  lielp- 
lesa  and  unfortunate,  seemed  to  appeal  most  to  her 
sense  of  what  was  important,  and  likely  to  be  enter- 
taining, in  her  reminiscence^. 


202  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

"  And  such  husbands  as  they  had,  the  mesdames 
who  kept  those  schools  !  "  she  continued.  "  One  was 
a  mild  old  gentleman,  who  occasionally  got  as  far 
with  some  inoffensive  remark  as  '  I  would  observe, 
chere  amiej  when  his  wife  nearly  snapped  his  head 
off  with  an  '  est  ce-que  je  ne  sais  pas  fa,  rnoiV 
Another  used  to  turn  up  from  South  America  or 
Africa,  or  somewhere,  as  often  as  his  wife  got  a  little 
ahead  in  the  world,  and  force  money  from  her.  Once 
he  came  just  before  dinner,  and  pulled  the  cloth  off 
the  table,  with  all  the  dishes,  in  a  grand  smash." 

"  People  seem  to  make  a  great  fuss  over  a  little 
matter  like  that,"  ventured  Kingbolt.  "  I  believe  it 
was  a  favorite  performance  of  mine  when  I  was  a 
child.  They  used  to  put  me  in  a  padded  room  after- 
wards, to  meditate.  If  I  kicked  around  there  I  could 
not  hurt  myself  or  the  furniture." 

Angelica  paid  this  guest  but  little  attention,  and 
presently,  taking  her  leave,  swept  serenely  in-doors. 

44  It  is  evident  that  he  does  not  come  on  her  ac- 
count," reflected  Bainbridge. 

This  was  the  more  evident  when  Kingbolt  again 
out-stayed  him.  He  seemed  to  have  even  more  things 
in  common  with  Ottilie  than  before.  She  wore  a 
high  color,  and  her  manner  was  fluttered.  Bainbridge 
chose  to  hold  most  of  his  own  powers  of  entertaining 
in  abeyance,  and  this  increased  the  general  constraint. 

lie  went  away  this  time  with  bitterness  in  his 
heart. 

"  Shall  I  warn  her,"  he  meditated,  "  against  so  un- 
desirable a  friendship?  Kingbolt  is  one  of  the  rash- 
est,  most  dangerous  men  of  all  his  fashionable  set.  He 
is  gambling  recklessly  at  this  very  time,  losing  heavy 
Bums   night  after   night   at  the   Club.  —  Bah  !  a  fine 


CROSS   PURPOSES   AT    A   NEWPORT    VILLA.  203 

callow  piece   of  business  that  would  be,  a  warning. 
Oh,  yes,  to  be  sure  !  " 

When  he  had'  not  seen  Ottilie,  the  day  was  wholly 
wasted.  He  would  not  have  come  to  Newport  for  the 
pure  pleasure  of  it.  He  would  have  taken  his  vaca- 
tion by  preference  at  some  much  less  conventional 
place  —  with  his  gun,  for  instance,  among  the  moun- 
tains. Once  when  he  did  not  find  her,  he  went, 
after  all,  to  a  fete-champ Stre,  from  which  he  had  in- 
tended to  absent  himself  on  her  account.  There  was 
Ottilie  in  person,  playing  at  lawn  tennis  as  King- 
bolt's partner.  The  day  following,  he  started  out, 
nerved  with  an  indignant  purpose.  He  would  now 
at  last  demand  an  explanation.  As  he  drew  near 
the  grounds  of  the  villa,  on  the  Bellevue  Avenue  side, 
Ottilie  and  Kingbolt  emerged,  seated  high  up  in 
state  in  the  dashing  English  tilbury  of  the.  latter. 
Behind  them,  with  folded  arms,  as  rigid  as  the 
sphinx,  was  Kingbolt's  English  groom.  Ottilie  held 
a  pretty  parasol  above  her  head,  and  looked  out 
sweetly  from  below  it,  her  face  partially  screened 
by  the  lace  border.  Bainbridge  had  shortly  before 
passed  Angelica  herself,  driving,  over  the  high  dash 
of  a  roomy  phaeton,  a  pair  of  cream-colored  ponies, 
with  Ada  Trull  beside  her. 

The  two  were  spread  out  in  toilettes  of  rainbow 
brightness,  and  he  had  mused  to  himself,  "  The  air 
hath  bubbles  as  the  water  hath,  and  these  are  of 
them."  But  neither,  he  thought,  presented  as  ele- 
gant an  effect  as  Ottilie.  Her  simplicity  of  style  was 
remarked  upon  by  others,  who  did  not  know  her,  and 
was  commended  as  very  "  good  form."  She  was 
Bpoken  of  as  being  probably  a  Boston  girl. 

There  were  hardly  two  more  uncomfortable  young 


20  i  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

men,  in  their  respective  ways,  in  all  Newport  at  this 
time  than  Kingbolt  and  Bainbridge.  Newport,  how- 
ever, did  not  hold  Bainbridge  long.  He  called  to 
take  his  leave  of  Ottilie,  and  in  the  interview  threw 
out  darkly  enigmatic  hints,  and  acted  in  a  manner  so 
far  from  friendly  that  she  was  surprised  and  grieved. 
He  went  away  by  the  boat,  leaving  "  the  wretched 
business  to  go  on."  He  understood  now  her  fluttered 
manner,  her  embarrassment,  perfidious  that  she  was, 
that  day  when  he  had  taken  her  hand  and  read  its 
lines.     Ah  yes,  perfectly  well ! 

"Do  I  want  to  marry  her,  then?"  he  reflected,  on 
the  other  hand,  facing  himself  severely  down.  "  Not 
at  all.  I  want  to  marry  nobody.  What  should  I 
marry  on,  forsooth  ?  Nothing  in  the  situation  from 
the  money  point  of  view  has  changed.  She  has 
simply  done,  like  a  cool,  prudent,  and  business-like 
girl,  exactly  what  I  told  her.  She  had  my  advice  and 
consent,  my  express  injunction.  Perhaps  I  thought 
that  her  graces  of  mind  and  person  were  to  be  con- 
veniently hidden  from  every  vision  but  mine?  But 
what  more  natural,  what  more  precisely  to  be  ex- 
pected, than  that  some  one  of  these  young  men  of 
fortune  should  have  the  grain  of  sense  necessary  to 
see  that,  with  but  half  a  chance,  she  would  make  one 
of  the  most  elegant  young  matrons  in  New  York  ? 
Money  on  her  side  need  be  no  object  if  his  fancy  were 
interested.  That  pair  need  not  wait  to  marry,  in- 
deed." 

He  reflected  on  the  enormous  discrepancy  in  for- 
tune between  Kingbolt  and  himself.  Then  he  re- 
flected on  the  incredibility  of  the  faet  that  he,  Russell 
Bainbridge,  should  find  himself  involved,  a  second 
time,  in  a  serious  disturbance  of  the  affections. 


CROSS   PURPOSES   AT    A    NEWPORT    VILLA.  205 

"  All,  but  we  are  platonic  friends,  to  be  sure,"  he 
concluded  with  a  sigh.  "  Friendship  rests  content 
with  the  calmer  mental  satisfactions.  Jt  desires  the 
best  good  of  its  object,  does  it  not?  What  better 
could  I  wish  for  her  than  the  greatest  number  of 
millions  to  her  fortune  possible  ?  " 

He  did  not  know,  in  fine,  precisely  what  he  would 
have  had  0;tiiie  do.  How  could  she  have  known 
the  state  of  his  feelings,  when  he  had  not  known  it 
himself  ?  Still  she  oucjht  to  have  known.  She  should 
have  given  him  the  first  chance,  and  pretended  at 
least  to  be  sorry,  and  taken  up  with  her  dissolute 
young  Croesus  afterwards. 

How  was  it  now  with  Kingbolt,  when  Bainbridge 
had  gone  ?  As  there  is  apt  to  be  a  perverse  fate  in 
these  things,  he  came  still  to  see  Ottilie,  but  much 
less  often.  The  extreme  measure  of  his  attentions 
had  been  lavished,  as  it  happened,  during  the  very 
period  of  Bainbridge's  stay.  Angelica,  for  her  part, 
was  pleased  to  consider  this  intimacy  "very  amus- 
ing.'' Had  it  been  of  longer  duration,  or  perhaps 
had  she  seen  more  of  it,  she  would  perhaps  have 
been  led  by  a  natural  perversity  to  interfere.  Ab- 
sent so  much,  however,  in  the  whirl  of  her  amuse- 
ments, she  contented  herself  with  an  occasional  small 
innuendo. 

Angelica,  again,  fell  into  the  way  of  borrowing 
small  sums  of  money  from  Ottilie  about  these  times, 
always  with  an  easy  forgetfuhfess  of  repayment. 
This  she  would  do,  slender  as  was  her  coushfs  store, 
rather  than  change  the  smallest  of  her  own  bank- 
notes. It  almost  seemed,  as  if  she  congratulated 
herself  upon  these  acquisitions  with  a  glee  beyond 
their  importance.      Was  it  not  "  so  much  clear  gain," 


206  THE    HOUSE    OF    A    MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

since  it  all  came  in  the  first  instance  from  her  fa- 
ther's purse  ? 

Kingbolt  had  finally  an  item  of  intelligence  for 
Angelica  that  commended  him  somewhat  more  than 
usual  to  the  favor  of  that  young  woman.  He  called 
upon  her  one  day,  and  found  her  alone,  in  a  cool, 
matting-carpeted  drawing-room,  whither  she  had  re- 
tired from  the  glare  of  the  heat. 

"  I  thought  you  might  like  to  know,"  he  said,  in- 
troducing his  business  hastily,  "  that  'Lady  Angelica' 
has  just  come  in  at  the  head  of  a  big  field  of  flyers  at 
Buffalo.     Here  is  the  dispatch." 

He  handed  her  the  paper.  It  appeared  that,  ear- 
lier in  their  acquaintance,  she  had  graciously  per- 
mitted him  to  name  after  her  a  fine  racing  mare  of 
his.  This  animal  was  now  doing  remarkable  things 
on  the  Western  circuit.  Angelica  took  a  certain 
pride  in  the  exploits  of  her  namesake,  as  somehow 
adding  to  her  own  importance.  She  listened  with 
interest  while  he  confined  himself  to  tins  subject. 
But,  what  with  the  occasion,  and  her  unusual  soft- 
ness of  mood,  he  had  soon  strayed  impetuously  very 
far  from  it. 

"  There  !  It  is  as  I  feared,"  she  said,  stopping  him 
with  a  gesture  and  a  clear-eyed  calmness  more  dis- 
couraging than  anger.  "  You  are  going  to  make  love 
to  me,  and  I  shall  have  to  send  you  away." 

He  burst  out  at  this  with  what  he  had  had  so  long 
in  his  mind.  "  Oil?  how  is  it  possible,"  he  cried,  put- 
ting directly  to  her  at  last  the  question  he  had  put  to 
Ottilie,  "  that  such  a  girl  as  you  can  take  up  with 
him  ?     It  is  /who  want  you,  1  who  lovo  you." 

Had  Angelica  desired  s'.ie  might  have  said  truth- 
fully, in   reply   to  this,  that  she   had  not  chosen   her 


CROSS    PURPOSES    AT    A    NEWPORT    VILLA.  207 

form  of  happiness  to  consist  of  expansions  of  affection 
and  flutterings  of  the  heart.  She  might  have  said, 
too,  on  the  other  hand,  that  she  was  an  excellent 
judge  in  personal  appearance,  and  could  see  very  well 
the  difference  between  the  comeliness  of  this  aspirant 
and  the  awkward  proportions  of  Sprowle.  Perhaps 
her  eyes  even  rested  upon  him  with  a  certain  ap- 
proval while  she  showed  herself  the  most  inflexible. 

"  But,"  she  might  have  gone  on  to  say,  "  I  have 
deliberately  preferred  a  certain  ideal  of  distinction. 
You  are  the  son  of  a  manufacturer,  who,  like  my  fa- 
ther, would  never  have  been  heard  of  unless  he  had 
made  a  fortune.  I  shall  not  have  as  much  money  in 
marrying  Sprowle  as  if  I  took  you,  but  we  shall  be 
very  comfortable.  Besides,  I  wish  to  marry  a  man 
whom  I  can  control,  in  order,  under  all  circumstances 
hereafter,  to  do  exactly  as  I  please." 

Really,  there  was  something  almost  touching  in 
this  immolation  of  all  the  finer  and  warmer  human 
impulses  upon  the  altar  of  a  cool  calculation. 

*•  I  cannot  endure  it.  I  have  never  been  brought 
up  to  be  crossed,"  persisted  Kingbolt  in  his  attempt. 

"  It  is  time  you  began,  then,"  exclaimed  Angelica, 
curtly. 

She  had  to  be  very  peremptory  with  him.  It  was 
only  upon  his  express  undertaking  never  to  annoy  her 
again  with  so  hopeless  a  suit  that  she  would  even  per- 
mit him  to  come  to  the  house  at  all.  He  was  apolo- 
getic and  subdued,  thereafter  and  they  conferred  to- 
gether in  a  mild<-r  tone. 

"  It  is  useless  to  consider  what  might  have  been," 
said  the  beauty,  taking  a  philosophic  air.  ''Fate  has 
decreed  otherwise." 

Kingbolt  of    Kingbolts ville   had  moods   after  this 


208  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

which  for  him  were  little  short  of  seraphic.  The 
breaking- harness  on  the  fiery,  wild-eyed,  young  mus- 
tang, which  seems  preposterous  beyond  belief  at  first, 
lias  in  the  end  its  legitimate  effect.  The  fiery,  young 
mustang  is  broken,  as  others  have  been  before  him. 
Kingbolt  posed  now  for  merely  a  disinterested  friend. 
1 1  is  new-found  amiability  embraced  even  Sprowle. 
He  gave  out  that  Sprowle  was  not  such  a  "  muff "  as 
lie  seemed.  He  presented  him,  in  token  of  amity, 
with  one  of  his  fine  English  coaching- whips,  having 
an  extra  long  lash.  He  even  spoke  of  getting  him,  in 
the  winter,  into  the  Capricorn,  a  little  club  within  the 
Empire  Club,  a  coterie  of  select  spirits,  who  had  the 
habit  of  dining  together  once  a  month. 

Kingbolt  did  not  lack  fierce  revolts,  however. 
When  moved  by  one  of  these,  he  rode  a  hurdle  race, 
at  the  Aquidneck  Course,  which  was  the  talk  of  the 
town.  It  was  done  on  a  foolish  wager,  against  pro- 
fessional jockeys,  and  he  won  in  a  tremendous  canter 
by  three  lengths.  He  confided  to  Ottilie  that  he  had 
been  in  hopes  of  breaking  his  neck  in  the  course  of  it. 
Again  lie  told  her,  — 

"  Half  the  time  it  is  as  much  as  I  can  do  to  keep 
from  sending  a  charge  of  shot  into  the  infernal  idiot," 
—  meaning  Sprowle  by  this  pleasant  description, — 
"  at  the  pigeon  matches. " 

It  was  not  long  after  this  latter  speech  that  she 
was  startled  by  hearing  that  Kingbolt  had  himself 
been  shot,  by  Sprowle,  at  the  Narragansett  Gun 
Club's  grounds.  She  was  sure  there  must  have  been 
an  affray,  and  in  the  sequel  his  own  vindictive  plan 
reversed.  Angelica,  also,  had  at  first  the  idea  that 
the  shooting  was  due  to  some  absurd  jealousy  on  the 
part  of  her  affianced,  from  whom  such  things  were  by 


CROSS   PURPOSES   AT    A  NEWPORT   VILLA.  209 

no  means  to  be  expected.  But  Sprowle  Onderdonk, 
the  captain  of  the  club,  presently  came  to  the  house 
in  person,  and  brought  reassuring  news. 

"  It  was  a  mere  accident,"  he  said.  "  Sprowle  fired 
low,  in  a  hurry,  at  a  bird  which  flew  over  the  specta- 
tors' heads.  He  is  devilish  awkward  about  some 
things,  you  know.  Kingbolt  got  a  little  of  it  in  his 
face.  It  won't  signify.  He  will  only  have  a  few 
scattering  blue  spots  here  and  there  ;  that  is  all.  It 
won't  injure  his  good  looks  a  particle." 

Ottilie  was  called  back  to  town,  to  resume  her 
cares  for  her  uncle.  The  rest  of  the  family  were  to 
remain  until  well  into  the  autumn.  The  last  that 
she  saw  of  Kingbolt,  he  waved  her  good-by  from  the 
piazza  of  his  hotel,  where  he  sat  with  a  green  shade 
over  his  eyes,  attended  upon  by  a  sympathizing  circle, 
to  whom  the  misfortunes  of  such  a  person  seemed 
misfortunes  indeed.  But  she  had  been  in  town  only 
a  few  days  when  he  presented  himself,  apparently  lit- 
tle the  worse  for  wear,  and  asked  her  once  more  to 
drive. 

u  I  came  back  to  the  city  to  got  my  own  doctor," 
he  explained.  "  As  soon  as  he  had  reduced  the  swell- 
ing little  trace  of  the  damage  remained,  as  you  see." 

He  had  a  new  Whitechapel  cart  at  the  door,  the 
horses  harnessed  in  the  tandem  fashion.  Ottilie  al- 
lowed herself  to  be  persuaded  to  go  with  him. 

As  fate  again  would  have  it,  Bainbridge  saw  the 
pair  on  their  way  up  the  Avenue.  Grimly  enough 
lie  recalled  that  Sunday  when  the  same  driver  and 
his  vehicle  had  been  discussed  by  Ottilie  and  himself 
from  the  sidewalk.  The  tone  of  her  comments  would 
hardly  have  been  so  unfavorable  now.  Who  could 
doubt    that   it  was   all  settled  between  tbem  ?     As 


210  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

likely  as  not  even  the  wedding-day  was  fixed.  He 
could  almost  hear  the  tender  things  they  were  saying 
to  each  other. 

Now  the  tender  things  which  the  two  were,  in  fact, 
saying  were  inquiries  on  Kingbolt's  part  —  after  beat- 
ing about  the  bush  —  as  to  how  Angelica  had  taken 
the  news  of  his  injury.  This  information  had  really 
been  the  object  of  his  present  courtesy. 

Then,  when  this  had  been  disposed  of,  they  dis- 
cussed the  relative  merits  of  side-lamps  as  compared 
with  dash-lamps  for  a  dog-cart,  and  whether  brown- 
black  with  crimson  wheels,  or  invisible  green  and  ca- 
nary be  preferable  as  colors.  Kingbolt  showed  his 
companion  how,  by  an  ingenious  contrivance,  the  cen- 
tre of  gravity  of  the  vehicle  could  be  shifted,  so  as  to 
be  kept  always  over  the  axle,  whether  a  groom  were 
carried  or  not.  He  also  gave  her  points  about  his 
horses.  He  called  upon  her,  from  time  to  time,  to 
observe  how  he  threaded  narrow  mazes  and  made 
deft  turns,  which  to  her  seemed  dangerous.  Ottilie 
had  acquired  from  her  cousin  Selkirk,  who  had  taken 
her  out  once  or  twice,  some  scraps  of  this  kind  of 
knowledge,  and  now,  by  politeness,  made  the  most  of 
it. 

She  endeavored  to  infuse  into  her  salute  to  Bain- 
bridge  as  much  warmth  as  possible.  He  chose  to  con- 
strue this  rather  into  her  way  of  gloating  over  him, 
and  returned  as  frigid  a  bow  as  possible  in  return. 
Ottilie  could  by  no  means  account  for  this,  nor  did 
opportunities  soon  offer  for  explanation.  Bainbridge 
ceased  to  come  near  her.  She  scarcely  even  saw 
him  any  more. 

She  recalled  his  vagaries  of  speech,  his  professed 
changeableness  of  purpose. 


CROSS   PURPOSES   AT   A   NEWPORT   VILLA.  211 

"  Ah,  well !  "  she  sighed  gently.     "  I  am  the  object 
of  it  in  my  turn.     The  friendly  interest  he  expressed 
in  me  has  no  doubt  come  to  the  conclusion  that  was 
legitimately  to  have  been  expected." 
14 


XV. 

IN  TOWN  FOR  THE  WINTER. 

On  their  return  to  town  for  the  winter,  the  Har- 
veys  began  to  plan  their  social  campaign.  They  de- 
sired their  first  season  in  the  new  house,  and  the  last 
of  Angelica's  unmarried  condition  to  be  one  of  pe- 
culiar brilliancy. 

Something  had  already  been  done,  at  Newport, 
with  the  assistance  of  Mr.  S prowl e  and  his  cousin 
Sprowle  Onderdonk,  in  the  way  of  talking  over  the 
people  who  were  to  be  invited  to  dinner.  Those 
men  were  very  powerful,  socially.  It  was  on  this 
side  that  the  advantage  of  the  Sprowle  connection 
came  in.  They  could  put  your  name  down  for  al- 
most anything,  and  there  you  were,  safely  chosen 
among  the  elect.  Mrs.  Harvey,  as  a  Muffett,  had 
substantial  claims,  of  course,  to  consideration.  But 
her  husband  had  less  ;  and  what  with  this,  and  their 
having  been  abroad  so  much,  and  for  some  time  with- 
out a  house  of  their  own,  there  was  danger,  had  they 
been  left  quite  to  themselves,  not  only  of  making  mis- 
takes, but  even  of  being  annoyingly  overlooked. 

Could  the  actual  gradations,  and  heart-burnings  on 
account  of  them,  in  the  upper  class,  be  discerned  by 
those  below,  they  might  serve  as  a  motive,  almost 
equal  to  that  of  Christian  resignation,  for  a  more  con- 
tented  state  of  mind.  The  stars  are  all  a  long  way 
off,  and  all  shine  ;  but  ah,  the  enormous  gaps  there 
are  between  them  ! 


IN  TOWN  FOR  THE  WINTER.  213 

Conferences,  for  drawing  up  the  programme,  were 
held  in  the  comfortable  sitting-room  of  Mrs.  Harvey. 
Ottilie  was  present  as  amanuensis.  She  had  many  re- 
adjustments to  make  in  her  notes  before  all  was  com- 
plete. 

Sprowle  had  taken  advantage  of  his  opportunities 
to  find  out  what  people  of  note  were  going  to  do,  and 
carefully  brought  word. 

"  The  Corlaers  will  give  two  balls,"  he  reported : 
"  probably  one  at  Delmonico's,  and  one  at  their 
house.  The  Bourdons  will  give  private  theatricals, 
and  that  sort  of  thing ;  the  Antrains  a  set  of  Ger- 
mans. There  will  be  an  unusual  crop  of  4  coming- 
out '  parties  early  in  the  season,  —  Mrs.  Schinko's,  for 
her  second  daughter,  leading  o(f  about  the  middle  of 
November.  The  Vanderlyns  will  give  only  dinners, 
as  usual." 

"  Those  Vanderlyns  have  reduced  it  to  an  exact 
science,"  Angelica  interrupted.  "  Their  dinners  are 
their  year's  work.  They  make  their  preparations  one 
year  for  the  next.  They  send  their  invitations  never 
less  than  three  weeks  in  advance,  so  that  there  can  be 
no  interference  from  '  previous  engagements.'  Two 
months  of  the  winter  they  dine  people,  three  times  a 
week.  Then  they  stop  short  and  devote  themselves 
to  accepting  the  hospitalities  offered  in  return." 

"  They  have  a  stunning  good  cook,  you  know," 
said  Sprowle. 

"  Yes,  they  have  a  superb  chef,  but  I  know  very 
well  it  is  only  for  the  time  being.  Vanderlyn  has  a 
way  of  letting  you  know  that  everything  they  have  is 
got  up  in  the  house.  They  depend  upon  no  vulgar 
outside  assistance,  —  no,  indeed.  '  How  can  such  a 
person  —  aw  —  come  into  your  kitchen  or  your  din- 


214  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

ing-room,  and  do  anything,  ye  know  ? '  lie  says. 
4  Why,  he  can't  find  a  blessed  pot  or  a  kettle,  ye 
know,'  "  and  Angelica  pretended  to  twist  up  the  end 
of  an  imaginary  moustache. 

"  You  must  look  out  for  the  Mondays  of  the  Fam- 
ily Circle  Dancing  Class,"  resumed  Sprowle.  "  There 
are  to  be  three  during  the  winter,  and  one  after  Lent. 
The  '  Patriarchs '  will  give  three  balls,  as  usual,  on 
Mondays,  too,  beginning  early  in  December.  The 
young  swells,  the  '  Bachelors,'  take  Thursdays,  and 
are  to  have  two.  Here  is  a  partial  list  of  the  dates ; 
I  will  let  you  have  the  rest  as  soon  as  possible.  Yes, 
all  that  will  go  on  just  as  usual.  Of  course  some  new 
things  will  be  started,  also." 

"  The  trouble  is  that  as  soon  as  a  thing  gets  well 
agoing  in  New  York,"  said  Angelica,  "  it  begins  to 
run  down." 

"  That  is  so,"  said  Sprowle.  "  All  sorts  of  com- 
mon persons  elbow  their  way  in.  You  cannot  tell 
how  they  do  it,  but  the  first  thing  you  know  there 
they  are.  The  only  resource  then  for  the  top  swells 
is  to  leave  it,  and  start  something  else.  There  is  one 
novelty  on  the  carpet  already,  in  the  shape  of  a  4  La- 
dies' Ball,'  to  be  under  the  patronage  of  a  committee 
of  dowagers." 

"  Ah,  yes,"  said  Mrs.  Rodman  Harvey  with  inter- 
est, "  the  Ladies'  Ball." 

"  Judging  by  the  row  they  are  having  over  the  in- 
vitations, and  the  way  black-balling  is  going  on,  I 
should  say  it  was  to  be  the  exclusive  affair  of  the  sea- 
son," continued  Sprowle.  "  Mamma  was  a  member  of 
the  original  group,  of  course,  and  you  are  all  right. 
That  has  been  looked  out  for.  —  By  the  way,  when 
your  name  first  came  up,  to  be  added  to  the  list  oi 


IN  TOWN  FOR  THE  WINTER.         215 

managers,  that  young  Mrs.  Bergen  Ap-Zoom  —  a 
flighty  creature,  you  know,  who  has  just  got  back 
from  somewhere,  I  could  not  tell  you  where  —  had 
the  impudence  to  ask,  '  Who  is  Mrs.  Rodman  Har- 
vey ?  I  don't  believe  I  ever  heard  of  her.'  4  You 
may  not  have  heard  of  her,'  mamma  replied,  —  pretty 
sharply,  I  can  tell  you,  —  4  but  I  would  have  you  to 
know  that  her  daughter  is  shortly  to  marry  my 
son.'  " 

The  speaker  finished  with  a  laugh,  and  seemed  to 
look  upon  the  anecdote  as  very  amusing. 

"  Well,  I  must  say  ! "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Harvey, 
flushing  with  anger. 

"  You  use  quite  your  customary  tact  in  telling  us 
that,  Austin  dear,"  said  Angelica,  with  far  from  an 
admiring  expression. 

She  marked  Mrs.  Bergen  Ap-Zoom  for  future  con- 
sideration, as  a  Seminole  might  have  cut  a  notch  on 
a  stick.  But  it  was  exactly  in  order  to  be  placed  for- 
ever beyond  the  reach  of  such  slights  as  this  that  the 
match  with  Sprowle  was  being  engineered.  Sprowle 
did  not  quite  understand  his  offense,  and  continued  in 
a  rather  mystified  way  with  his  information. 

"  I  had  better  bring  up  Van  Bosk  irk  from  the 
Club,  to  see  if  there  is  anything  I  have  omitted. 
Van  has  it  all  at  his  fingers'  ends.  —  And  you  had 
better  have  in  Scatterthwaite,  you  know,"  he  con- 
cluded, "  and  just  glance  over  his  records  so  as  not  to 
send  out  invitations  to  people  who  have  been  dead 
several  years,  and  that  sort  of  thing." 

When  the  necessary  emendations  had  been  made, 
Ottilie  read  out,  with  the  proper  date  affixed  to  each 
item,  a  list  comprising  two  balls,  three  four  o'clock 
teas,  and  two  "  ladies'  luncheons"  on  a  large  scale. 


216  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

There  were  also  to  be  dinners,  of  from  twelve  to 
twenty  covers,  every  Thursday,  from  December  up 
to  Lent.  This  was  the  more  formal  hospitality, 
that  of  an  intimate  sort  to  be  sandwiched  between. 
Their  general  "  day  at  home  "  was  to  be  Tuesday, 
after  three. 

Scatterthwaite  was  afterwards  summoned  in.  He 
was  a  person  who  united  with  the  functions  of  a 
church  sexton  a  discreet  supervision  of  the  machin- 
ery of  society.  No  wedding,  funeral,  or  reception  of 
the  first  class  was  complete  without  his  fostering 
care,  if  it  were  only  in  distributing  the  invitations,  or 
watching  the  descent  of  the  guests  from  the  carriages. 
By  means  of  confidential  communications  made  him 
he  was  sometimes  able  to  forestall,  if  he  would,  an 
awkward  duplication  of  dates,  or  a  too  great  similar- 
ity of  programmes.  These  can  by  no  means  be  wholly 
avoided,  however,  since  the  days  of  the  season  are  so 
few,  the  range  of  possible  entertainments  so  limited, 
and  those  who  desire  to  avail  themselves  of  it  so  nu- 
merous. 

Scatterthwaite  found  it  useful  to  keep  such  a  rec- 
ord of  the  movements  of  society  as  could  hardly  be 
done  by  simple  individuals  actually  involved  in  its 
whirl.  He  could  supply  the  proper  addresses,  pre- 
vent the  extending  of  invitations  to  persons  long 
s;nce  deceased,  as  Sprowle  had  said,  and  others  fallen 
into  poverty  or  hopeless  disgrace  ;  and  he  knew  what 
families  had  young  sons  and  daughters  coming  up, 
and  now  about  of  an  age  to  be  formally  noticed. 

Then  Clocheville,  the  new  caterer,  who  was  mak- 
ing his  way  to  favor,  Haricot,  spoiled  by  prosperity, 
having  grown  so  reprehensibly  negligent  of  late,  was 
brought  before  the  conclave.    After  him  came  Spang, 


IN  TOWN  FOR  THE  WINTER.  217 

the  florist.  These  were  contracted  with  to  furnish 
services  and  the  supplies  necessary  at  the  proper 
dates,  and  carefully  noted  all  in  their  little  books. 
Clocheville  was  only  for  the  grander  occasions,  Con- 
rad and  the  resources  of  the  house  being  sufficient  in 
themselves  for  the  lesser. 

The  bulk  of  Ottilie's  labors  resolved  itself  into  the 
putting  in  order  of  her  aunt's  book  of  addresses,  — 
which  contained  in  all  probably  a  thousand  names, — 
and  in  sending  out  the  invitations  from  it  as  occasion 
demanded. 

"Aunt  Alida  "  had  no  talent  for  resigning  any  con- 
siderable part  of  the  burdens  of  management.  Her 
active-minded,  amiable  niece  was  thus  left  with  much 
of  leisure  on  her  hands.  She  occupied  herself  in 
keeping  up  her  studies  or  practiced  her  music.  She 
associated  herself  in  some  charitable  enterprises,  in 
which  she  became  interested  through  some  of  the 
quieter  new  acquaintances  she  had  made.  One  of 
these  was  a  society  for  sending  out  poor  children  to 
homes  in  the  West,  and  she  managed  to  secure  places 
for  a  number  of  the  iiroteyez  in  and  about  Lone  Tree. 
Another  made  substantial  garments  for  the  poor ; 
and  another  was  a  "flower  mission,"  which  brightened 
the  bedsides  of  the  sick  in  the  hospitals. 

She  found  Rodman  Harvey  inclined  to  respond 
freely,  at  this  time,  to  demands  upon  him  for  such 
purposes.  "  The  old  man  is  going  it  pretty  strong  on 
the  charity  lay,  just  now,"  said  his  clerk,  McKinley, 
at  the  store.  "  You  hardly  pick  up  a  paper  but  you 
find  him  presenting  a  stand  of  colors,  or  a  barrel  of 
Hour,  or  a  silver  pitcher,  or  a  set  of  furniture,  to  some 
armory  or  church  fair,  or  something  that  way." 

"  Well,  his  head  is  level,      lie  couldn't  play  a  bet- 


218  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

ter  card  for  election  purposes  no  way,"  a  comrade  re- 
turned. 

Ottilie's  charitable  tendencies  were  not  shared  by 
Angelica. 

"  She  will  bring  small-pox  or  some  other  dreadful 
calamity  into  the  house,"  she  complained.  u  She 
ought  to  be  stopped,  if  only  for  Calista's  sake." 

Such  concern  in  Calista's  welfare  was  the  more  re- 
markable since  her  usual  attention  to  the  child  was 
no  more  than  to  criticise  the  sharpness  of  her  elbows 
and  shoulder-blades,  and  push  her  out  of  "the  way. 
This  was  a  programme  she  was  hardly  likely  ever  to 
vary  from  unless  Calista  should  become  a  beauty. 

"  One  would  think,  that  the  rich  had  nothing  to 
do  but  give,  give,"  Angelica  proceeded.  "  They  are 
as  poor  as  the  rest  of  the  world,  if  you  look  at  the 
demands  upon  them.  I  suppose  papa  will  be  begged 
out  of  house  and  home  yet.  I  expect  to  live  to  see  the 
day.  What  poor  family,  for  instance,  has  to  keep  up 
an  establishment  like  this,  —  eight  horses,  an  opera 
box,  give  dinners  and  dress  ?  I  believe  there  is  too 
much  luxury  already  among  lower  orders.  I  am  half 
inclined  to  subscribe  to  the  theory  that  it  is  a  mis- 
take to  do  so  much  for  the  weak  and  suffering.  It 
is  better  that  they  should  die  out.  There  would  be 
fewer  people,  but  those  remaining  would  be  good  for 
something.  All  criminals  ought  to  be  shot,  to  save 
the  expense  of  their  keep  ;  and  the  pauper  sick  ex- 
posed on  islands,  as  in  the  good  old  days  of  the 
Romans." 

Ottilie  had  heard  the  self- same  doctrines  from 
Bainbridge,  told  in  his  exaggerated  way,  and  had 
paid  no  great  heed. 

"  Oh,    he    likes    to    hear  himself    talk,"   she  said. 


IN    TOWN    FOR    THE    WINTER.  219 

M  He  is  like  the  son  in  the  Scriptures,  who  said  he 
would  not  go  into  the  vineyard,  but  really  went,  and 
was  so  much  better  than  the  other  one  who  said  he 
would,  but  did  n't." 

But  in  her  cousin's  mouth,  though  she  used  a  ban- 
tering tone,  the  words  had  a  different  ring,  — almost 
the  air  of  cold  conviction.  The  same  trait  appeared 
in  Angelica's  line  of  comment  on  any  case  of  magnan- 
imous effort  or  self-sacrifice,  incidentally  reported. 
Such  unbusiness-like  proceedings  appeared  to  excite 
in  her  less  admiration  than  contempt. 

"  That  is  all  very  well  for  those  who  like  it,"  she 
would  say,  "  but  you  will  not  find  me  doing  it." 

She  seemed  to  value  herself  upon  her  superior  good 
sense  in  this.  She  prided  herself,  too,  upon  her  in- 
capacity "to  be  taken  in."  This  was  much  to  her 
credit,  no  doubt,  and  a  quality  to  be  recommended  to 
others. 

Still,  considering  that  she  never  had  been  taken 
in,  nor  suffered  any  of  those  disappointments  which 
often  sow  the  seed  of  suspicion  in  natures  originally 
warm  and  confiding,  a  little  more  of  the  candor  and 
trust  natural  to  ingenuous  youth  might  have  been 
pardoned  in  her  case. 

As  to  simple  pleasures,  to  contrast  her  with  Ottilie, 
she  hated  them.  She  understood  only  those  of  the 
complex  and  costly  sort,  confining  her  interest  as  it 
might  be  said,  to  that  part  of  life  which  is  grown 
under  glass. 

She  continued  her  borrowing  of  small  sums  of 
Ottilie.  The  child  Calista,  observant  of  this,  for 
all  her  quiet  way,  took  it  upon  herself  to  impart  the 
information  to  her  mother.  Mis.  Harvey  insisted 
thereupon    on    repaying    the    loans    from     her    own 


220  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

pojket,  against  the  protest  of  Ottilie.  Angelica 
made  no  offers  of  restitution  even  now.  She  re- 
ceived her  mother's  mention  of  the  subject,  on  the 
contrary,  with  an  indignant  air,  made  as  if  Ottilie 
h:id  brought  the  complaint  herself,  and  took  occasion 
to  show  her  resentment  quite  offensively. 

An  open  little  tiff  occurred  between  the  two  for 
the  first  time.  Ottilie  worsted  her  aggressor  with  a 
gallant  intrepidity,  accompanied  by  a  charmingly 
dignified  air.  She  broke  down,  however,  immediately 
after,  and  went  sobbing  to  her  room. 

"  I  do  think  it  a  pity  you  two  cannot  agree,"  said 
her  aunt,  as  if  the  blame  had  been  equal. 

At  this  Ottilie  redoubled  her  tears,  and  was  almost 
ready  to  leave  the  house.  But  the  next  moment 
Mrs.  Harvey  came  to  her,  dried  her  tears  affection- 
ately, and  assured  her  that  justiee  should  be  done. 
The  matter  came  to  the  ears  of  the  merchant  prince, 
also,  and  he  sternly  bade  his  daughter  apologize. 

"  I  told  you  how  it  would  be,  mamma  !  "  cried 
Angelica,  passionately,  to  her  mother,  when  she  had 
withdrawn  from  his  presence.  "  You  cannot  have 
that  kind  of  people,  and  their  dreadful  feelings." 
She  apologized  to  Ottilie,  nevertheless,  as  she  had 
been  told,  making  her  peace  with  a  certain  haughty 
grace.  She  said  that  she  had  been  unconscious  of 
giving  offense. 

Rodman  Harvey  passed  much  of  his  time  in  the 
house,  in  a  plainly  furnished  office,  opening  from  the 
library.  He  had  a  safe  there  and  some  atlases  and 
statistical  works,  which  he  used  in  preparing  his  ad- 
dresses for  the  Board  of  Trade  or  the  Civic  Reform 
Association;  and  then1  was  a  writing  table,  covered 
with  green  leather,  at  which  he  signed  his  checks. 


IN   TOWN   FOR   THE  WINTER.  221 

He  retired  early,  as  a  rule,  and  only  went  out  to 
gayeties  where  bis  interest  or  bis  dignity  were  likely 
to  be  much  enhanced. 

If  not  in  this  office,  or  den,  of  an  evening,  he  was 
often  to  be  found  in  his  billiard  room.  His  cronies, 
Hackley  and  Hastings,  joined  him  there  ;  or  his  elder 
son,  Selkirk,  took  part  with  him  in  a  quiet  game. 
His  younger  son,  Rodman,  Jr.,  whose  appeals  for  a 
latch-key  still  continued  unavailing,  was  sometimes 
invited  down  also,  as  a  wholesome  respite  from  his 
studies.  This  youth  secretly  scoffed  at  his  father's 
game,  without  daring  display  too  openly  his  own 
superior  prowess,  lest  he  be  questioned  as  to  how  he 
acquired  it.  He  repined  at  the  necessity  of  frittering 
away  so  much  valuable  time  in  slow  fashion  with 
"  the  governor,"  when  the  pleasures  he  knew  of 
outside  were  going  on  without  him.  In  this  discon- 
tented frame  of  mind,  he  proved  so  severe  a  critic  and 
made  so  many  disputes  over  the  most  innocent  shots, 
that  he  was  far  from  being  an  agreeable  companion. 

Hackley  and  Hastings  were  the  guests  when  Ot- 
tilie  was  sent  down,  rather  late  one  evening,  with  a 
message  to  her  uncle.  "  Ask  him,  please,  for  the 
memorandum  I  gave  him  for  the  upholsterer,"  said 
Mrs.  Harvey.  "  I  wish  to  add  something.  Oh,  and 
just  say  quietly,  that  one  of  the  guests  for  our  Red- 
way  dinner  to-morrow  has  disappointed  us,  and  I 
wish  him  to  find  some  eligible  person  to  fill  the  va- 
cancy. Tell  him  to  fix  it  in  his  mind  !  I  shall  de- 
pend upon  him." 

The  billiard-players  extended  a  warm  welcome  to 
the  young  girl  as  she  came  down  among  them. 
Hackley  gallantly  insisted  upon  her  making  a  shot 
for  him.     She  did  this  with  no  great  willingness, 


222  THE   HOUSE   OF   A  MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

showing  in  the  process  the  unconscious  grace  of  her 
slender  figure. 

Mr.  Hackley  was  short,  well-fed,  and  bald.  At 
fifty  he  still  gave  himself  the  airs  of  a  merry  bachelor. 
In  the  street  he  walked  with  a  dignified  bearing, 
carrying  his  head  a  little  on  one  side,  and  one  hand 
open  behind  him,  with  the  palm  outwards. 

He  assumed  with  Harvey  a  brusque  air,  as  one 
who  spoke  his  mind  without  fear  or  favor.  But  it 
might  have  been  noticed  that  his  sayings  were  gen- 
erally of  a  complimentary  and  not  an  offensive  sort. 
His  way  was  to  affect  to  give  to  gross  flattery  a  cer- 
tain air  of  abuse. 

Ottilie,  with  a  quick  intuition,  distrusted  the  sin- 
cerity of  his  professions,  and  she  did  not  like  too 
well  the  near  proximity  of  his  large  bald  head,  and 
large  mouth  and  teeth. 

She  did  not  find  that  her  uncle  chose  his  intimates 
with  too  great  discrimination.  Perhaps  this  was  the 
truth.  In  natures  of  a  certain  cold  kind,  self-centred, 
without  "  magnetism,"  as  the  saying  is,  to  whom 
companionship  is  not  an  absolute  necessity,  there  is 
a  degree  of  simplicity  in  these  matters.  Their  friends 
often  choose  themselves,  instead  of  being  chosen,  and 
fasten  themselves  on.  To  both  these  friends  Harvey 
had  done  many  favors,  chiefly  of  a  financial  sort. 

Hastings  was  tall,  large-bearded,  taciturn,  and  non- 
committal. There  was  nothing  in  particular  for  him, 
except,  in  Ottilie's  eyes,  his  engaging  wife,  with 
whom  her  friendship  still  continued.  On  the  other 
hand,  also,  he  had  nothing  against  him.  He  was  as 
taciturn  as  Hackley  was  talkative,  attended  to  his 
game  of  billiards  in  a  business-like  way,  and  nodded 
intelligent  acceptance  of  remarks  rather  than  com- 
mented upon  them  verbally. 


IN   TOWN  FOR   THE  WINTER.  223 

Ottilie,  obliged  to  wait  a  little  for  the  ©pportunity 
to  speak  to  her  uncle  apart,  then  to  wait  longer  while 
a  servant  was  sent  to  find  the  required  memoran- 
dum on  his  writing-table,  sat  down  on  a  luxurious 
cushioned  bench  affixed  to  the  wall. 

She  heard  the  gentlemen  talking  about  the  man- 
sion, which  was  still  too  new  a  subject  to  be  ex- 
hausted. 

"  Come  !  "  said  Hackley,  giving  the  air  of  an  im- 
pertinence to  what  was  really  an  opening  for  its 
owner  to  indulge  a  little  self-glorification,  "the  whole 
thing  cost  you  a  good  quarter  of  a  million  dollars." 

"  Worse  yet,"  replied  the  merchant  prince,  smiling. 
"  A  quarter  of  a  million  went  for  the  house  and 
ground  alone.  Say  two  hundred  thousand  more  for 
the  decoration,  furnishing,  and  pictures.  You  shall 
have  it  as  it  stands  for  half  a  million  dollars.  That 
leaves  but  a  bare  living  profit  on  the  transaction." 

44  I  don't  just  happen  to  have  the  sum  about  me," 
returned  Hackley,  creating  some  amusement  by  pre- 
tending to  feel  for  it  in  his  pocket-book.  "  In  fact, 
there  are  often  times  now  when  I  don't  have  a  little 
amount  like  that  about  me.  What  with  speculat- 
ing, manufacturing,  and  so  forth,  in  these  late  years, 
sometimes  making,  sometimes  losing,  I  have  seen  the 
time,  more  than  once,  when  a  "cashier's  salary  at  the 
Antarctic  Bank,  regularly  paid,  as  of  yore,  would 
have  again  looked  to  me  like  a  very  comfortable 
thing.  Perhaps  none  of  us  ever  bettered  ourselves 
greatly  by  leaving  the  bank.  Here  am  I,  as  you  see. 
Burlington,  the  president,  got  himself  made  a  gen- 
eral in  the  civil  wars,  and  minister  to  a  foreign  court ; 
but  glory  and  languages  will  not  do  to  bring  up  a 
family  of  daughters  on.     He  has  been  unsettled  in 


224  THE  HOUSE  OF  A  MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

his  affairs  ever  since.  Then  there  was  old  Gam- 
mage,  the  note-teller,  you  know,  who  went  to  the 
devil  with  drink." 

"  It  astonishes  me,  sometimes,  to  find  such  a  roof 
over  my  head,  after  all  the  old  house  of  Harvey  & 
Co.  has  been  through,"  said  the  merchant,  following 
this  with  a  piece  of  retrospect  of  his  own.  "  You 
recollect  some  of  its  tough  times,  Hackley,  yourself." 

"  Yes,  I  recollect."  Hackley 's  countenance  wore 
an  evasive  expression,  and  his  comments  led  away 
from  rather  than  up  to  the  subject. 

"  When  I  think  of  it  I  could  not  tell  you  how  we 
escaped.     I  could  not,  really,"  persisted  Harvey. 

Was  it  imagination  on  Ottilie's  part,  or  did  Mr. 
Hackley  look  at  his  patron  in  a  singular  way,  from 
half- veiled  eyes,  and  then  as  if  in  upon  himself,  in- 
trospectively  ?  It  would  have  been  strange,  indeed, 
had  Hackley  known  any  means  by  which  the  house 
had  escaped,  when  Harvey  did  not  know  it  himself. 

"  There  was,  then,  an  Antarctic  Bank,"  reflected 
Ottilie,  nervously.  "  There  was  a  General  Burling- 
ton, and  a  Gammage,  and  this  is  the  Hackley,  as 
specified  by  the  vagrant  McFadd,  that  day  in  Har- 
vey's Terrace,  when  the  prisoners  escaped." 

" Pshaw!"  she  broke  out.  "What  folly!  To 
imagine  that  if  there  had  been  anything,  and  so  many 
people  cognizant  of  it,  it  could  have  possibly  waited 
till  now  !  " 

The  following  afternoon  Bainbridge  happened  in 
at  Rodman  Harvey's  store,  to  report  upon  some  col- 
lections of  a  dubious  character,  which  had  been  put 
into  his  hands. 

"  By  the  way,"  said  Harvey,  as  he  was  taking  his 
leave,  "  have  you  anything  to  do  this  evening  ?  " 


IN    TOWN    FOR   THE   WINTER.  225 

"No,"  returned  Bainbridge  promptly,  supposing 
some  further  offer  of  employment  at  hand. 

"  Well,  then,  I  wish  you  would  excuse  the  infor- 
mality of  the  invitation,  and  come  up  and  dine  with  us 
at  seven.  We  are  to  have  the  Hon.  Lyman  S.  Red- 
way.  He  is  in  town  for  but  a  few  days,  and  we  had 
to  catch  him  when  we  could." 

Harvey  had  neglected  till  now  to  carry  out  the 
instructions  sent  him  by  his  wife  to  fill  the  vacant 
place.  This  was  a  presentable  young  man,  who 
would  do  for  a  guest  as  well  as  another,  and  save  the 
trouble  of  further  search. 

"  With  great  pleasure,"  said  Bainbridge. 

He  cursed  his  hasty  admission  that  he  was  not  en- 
gaged, but  could  not  now  withdraw  it.  After  all, 
perhaps  Ottilie  would  not  appear  at  dinner.  As  to 
the  Hon.  Lyman  S.  Redway,  a  distinguished  political 
economist,  for  whose  character  and  attainments  he 
had  the  highest  respect,  he  was  a  man  well  worth  see- 
ing. At  the  worst  he  could  devote  his  attention  very 
much  to  him. 

7 


XVI. 

THE   MERCHANT  PRINCE  DINES   A  POLITICAL   ECON- 
OMIST. 

Rodman  Harvey  dined  now  a  brother  merchant, 
now  a  magnate  of  the  stock  exchange  or  the  rail- 
roads ;  again,  a  military  or  naval  officer  of  distinc- 
tion, or  a  high  functionary  of  state.  Or  again,  it 
was  one  of  his  dignified  foreign  correspondents,  or 
perhaps  some  scion  of  nobility  who  brought  letters 
from  these  to  facilitate  his  tour  through  America. 

Once  he  gave  a  dinner  to  the  great  fortunes,  in 
which  were  some  of  those  amassed  with  such  fabu- 
lous rapidity  of  late  in  California. 

The  capitalist  Goldstone  said  on  that  occasion,  to  a 
lady  at  his  right,  "  I  suppose  you  will  have  no  eyes 
at  all  for  me,  with  my  poor  little  million." 

Bainbridge  entered  the  Harvey s'  drawing-room  as 
nearly  as  might  be  at  the  appointed  hour  of  seven. 
The  hostess  received  him  affably,  asking,  — 

"  Where  have  you  been  ?  " 

Having  thus  recognized  the  fact  of  his  previous 
existence,  she  turned  again  in  her  bustling  way  to 
other  guests.  She  was  dressed  to-night  in  precisely 
that  toilette  of  maroon  satin  and  diamonds  which  we 
have  seen  in  her  portrait,  by  Huntington,  as  exhibited 
at  the  Academy  of  Design. 

Small  groups  were  sitting  or  standing  about,  and 
the  rooms  were  full  of  that  gently  murmurous,  ex- 


THE  MERCHANT  PRINCE  DINES  AN  ECONOMIST.    227 

pectant  conversation  characteristic  of  the  twenty 
minutes  before  going  in  to  dinner. 

Angelica's  pug  Marmion,  his  neck  ornamented  with 
a  wide  silk  bow,  to  match  his  mistress'  dinner  dress, 
trotted  sedately  about.  Bainbridge  stooped  to  pat 
him.  The  favorite  avoided  the  caress  with  a  wearied 
air,  seeming  to  say,  "  Oh,  no.  That  may  do  very 
well,  from  strangers,  for  dogs  in  general ;  but  in  my 
case  there  is  no  necessity  of  anything  of  the  kind." 

It  was  rather  late  when  Ottilie  appeared  and  the 
curiosity  of  Bainbridge  was  satisfied.  He  looked 
around  next  for  Kingbolt,  but  Kingbolt  was  not  there. 
The  younger  portion  of  the  company  consisted  of 
Sprowle,  his  cousin  Sprowle  Onderdonk,  Ada  Trull, 
Daisy  Goldstone,  and  a  Miss  Farley,  daughter  of  an 
ex-secretary  of  the  navy,  who  was  here  with  her 
father  and  mother.  There  were  also  Selkirk  Harvey 
and  a  Miss  Van  Voorst  of  Albany,  lately  brought  to 
visit  in  the  house  for  his  especial  benefit. 

It  began  to  be  feared  that  a  general  indifference 
to  the  female  sex,  in  the  son  and  heir,  might  extend 
to  the  degree  of  not  marrying  at  all,  thus  defeating 
the  ambitious  hopes  to  be  accomplished  through  him. 
To  contend  against  this,  his  mother  was  in  the  habit 
of  artfully  throwing  in  his  way  young  women  of  the 
desirable  sort  and  personal  attractions,  with  the  pur- 
pose of  stirring  at  length  his  sluggish  fancy. 

When  Bainbridge  had  identified  all,  he  found, 
besides  those  above,  the  dowager  Mrs.  Sprowle ;  the 
mayor  of  the  city  ;  the  governor  of  a  neighboring 
State  ;  Dr.  Miltimore,  the  polished  divine  ;  Dr.  Wy- 
burd,  who  could  be  depended  upon  to  give  a  certain 
animation  even  to  the  most  abstruse  topics  ;  Mr. 
Hackley  ;  Blithewoor?  Gwin,  the  well-known  journal- 
ist :  and  Baron  Au,  tiie  Pomeranian  consul-general. 


228  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

The  eminent  political  economist  was  long  in  com- 
ing. Pending  his  arrival,  a  party  was  organized, 
under  the  host's  guidance,  to  explore  the  cellars  and 
similar  appurtenances  of  the  house  below  stairs. 

"  All  that,"  said  Rodman  Harvey,  "  is  the  depart- 
ment upon  which  I  especially  pride  myself.  I  claim 
much  of  it  as  of  my  especial  invention  and  contriv- 
ance." 

It  was  thought  at  first  that  ladies  could  not  go  ;  but 
the  ex-secretary's  daughter,  picking  up  her  skirts  in  a 
dainty  way,  set  the  example,  and  others,  with  Ottilie 
among  them,  followed.    Bainbridge  remained  behind. 

These  lower  regions  were  found  to  be  of  a  spa- 
ciousness and  elegant  neatness  hardly  surpassed  by 
those  above.  The  party,  on  their  return,  displayed 
much  enthusiasm  about  them.  The  ex-secretary's 
daughter,  gesticulating  with  a  pair  of  small,  nervous 
white  hands,  might  have  been  heard  explaining  the 
plan  to  Sprowle  Onderdonk. 

"  The  contrivances  for  hygiene  and  comfort,"  she 
said,  "  are  simply  wonderful.  The  heater  has  a  self- 
acting  gauge  and  regulator,  so  that  the  temperature 
can  never  possibly  rise  above  or  fall  below  seventy 
Fahrenheit.  The  air  is  filtered  through  cotton-wool, 
the  water  through  something  or  other  which  I  forget. 
There  is  an  electric  battery,  so  that  the  gas  lights 
itself,  and  no  matches  are  necessary.  And  a  hydraulic 
elevator  takes  you  up-stairs,  if  you  like,  without  the 
trouble  of  climbing." 

"  I  should  be  afraid  it  would  all  blow  up,  you 
know,"  said  her  listener  with  a  bluff  facetiousness. 

The  Hon.  Lyman  Redway  now  arrived.  His  title 
was  derived  from  service  as  a  member  of  Congress. 
lie  was  a  man  of  fine  presence.    He  offered  apologies 


THE   MERCHANT   PRINCE   DINES   AN   ECONOMIST.      229 

in  a  courteous  way  for  having  kept  the  company- 
waiting,  showing  that  the  delay  had  been  unavoid- 
able. A  number  of  the  guests  had  met  him  before,  a 
few  having  heard  his  discourse  of  that  very  day  on 
the  tariff  question,  before  the  Chamber  of  Commerce. 
Those  who  had  not  already  made  his  acquaintance 
were  now  presented,  and  all  went  in  to  dinner. 

Bainbridge  had  been  speculating,  with  vague  anx- 
iety, as  to  who  his  partner  was  to  be.  Mrs.  Har- 
vey resolved  it  all  at  once  by  saying,  — 

"  I  am  going  to  ask  you,  Mr.  Bainbridge,  to  take 
in  my  niece,  Miss  Ottilie  Harvey." 

He  offered  his  arm  to  Ottilie.  Exchanging  a  con- 
ventional word  or  two,  they  moved  onward  with  the 
procession.  Both,  having  made  up  their  minds  to 
appear  particularly  at  ease,  found  themselves,  on  the 
contrary,  particularly  uncomfortable. 

The  table,  around  which  the  guests  proceeded  to 
take  their  places,  in  the  high-backed  tapestry-covered 
chairs,  was  a  spot  of  genial  brightness  in  the  semi-ob- 
scurity of  the  dining-room.  It  was  lighted  by  waxen 
tapers  shaded  with  colored  silks.  The  illumination  of 
these  fell  softly  upon  a  multitude  of  utensils  of  gold, 
silver,  fine  porcelain,  and  Venice  glass,  and  cloth  of 
snowy  whiteness,  open-worked  along  the  edges  and 
showing  a  ruby  velvet  mat  below.  In  the  centre,  an 
antique  galley  of  silver,  laden  with  fruits  and  flowers, 
rested  upon  a  lake  formed  of  a  mirror,  and  having 
banks  of  flowers.  The  walls  around  were  gravely  and 
richly  decorated  with  old  tapestry,  upon  the  ground  of 
which  hung  some  paintings,  chiefly  portrait  and  fig- 
ure subjects  in  prevailing  dark  tones. 

William  Skiff,  assisted  by  Alphonse,  moved  in  and 
out  discreetly,  serving  the  viands  from  behind  a  tali. 


230  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

screen.  An  orchestra  of  stringed  instruments  played 
softly  in  an  adjoining  room.  Its  music,  instead  of 
conflicting  with  the  talk,  seemed  like  a  low  accom- 
paniment to  recitative,  to  bind  all  its  fragments  into 
a  certain  unity  and  rhythm. 

Ottilie  and  Bainbridge  talked  but  little.  The 
young  man's  manner  was  distinctly  frigid,  and  the 
young  girl  had  not  the  faintest  idea  of  the  cause. 
The  intervals  of  silence  between  them  lengthened. 
They  gazed  at  the  table  and  listened  to 'the  conversa- 
tion of  the  other  guests.  The  "  governor  of  a  neigh- 
boring State,"  at  Ottilie's  right,  developed  a  taste  for 
her  society,  and  also  a  certain  bantering  way  that 
might  not  have  been  quite  expected  from  one  of  his 
station. 

Baron  Au,  whose  deficiencies  in  the  English  lan- 
guage by  no  means  sufficed  to  check  his  tendency  to 
be  a  very  effusive  person,  was  heard  setting  forth  his 
daily  practice  from  the  point  of  view  of  hygiene  to 
Miss  Ada  Trull. 

"  I  haf  learn  your  American  proverb :  i  Times  is 
money.'  I  rise  myself  each  morning  at  seven  of 
clock,  take  cold  bat-z-th,  so  cold  what  I  can,  and 
walk  myself  one  hour  in  z-the  streets." 

"I  should  think  you  would  rather  speak  French, 
Baron,"  commented  Ada  Trull. 

She  was  much  too  captivating  to  be  quarreled 
with  for  impertinence,  and  knew  it  very  well.  Her 
blonde  hair,  "  banged  "  over  her  forehead,  was  more 
like  a  cap  of  polished  gold  this  evening  than  ever. 

Hackley,  at  Bainbridge's  left,  was  discussing  with 
a  neighbor  the  fruitful  theme  of  stocks.  Something 
cf  what  they  said  oddly  fixed  itself  in  his  memory 
and  had  its  consequences  afterwards. 


THE   MERCHANT   PRINCE   DINES   AN   ECONOMIST.      231 

"  I  confidently  expect,"  Hackley  declared,  "  to  see 
Devious  Air-Line  at  one  hundred  and  fifty  before  the 
winter  is  over.  Harvey  is  president,  you  know,  and 
everything  he  touches  turns  to  money.  It  is  in  the 
high-priced  stocks,  after  all,  and  not  the  low,  that 
money  is  made.  If  I  had  funds,  I  should  hold  Devi- 
ous Air-Line  for  a  big  rise." 

Whether  Miss  Van  Voorst,  who  faced  our  couple, 
was  aware  or  not  of  the  altar  upon  which  she  was 
designed  to  be  sacrificed,  she  could  be  seen  paying  an 
amiable  deference  to  the  apathetic  Selkirk  at  her 
side.  She  had  a  dimple  in  one  cheek  of  which  it 
seemed  that  an  impressible  person  might  have  made 
a  great  deal  more  account. 

"  Do  you  think  her  pretty  ?  "  Ottilie  asked,  for 
an  appearance  of  civility,  at  least,  should  be  kept  up. 

"  Rather,"  Bainbridge  answered.  u  Hardly  equal 
to  your  cousin,  or  Ada  Trull." 

The  peculiarity  about  Miss  Van  Voorst  was  that 
the  lids  of  her  almond-shaped  eyes  did  not  seem  to 
open  quite  wide  enough  for  the  full  orbs  of  vision, 
which  gave  a  quaint,  near-sighted  look,  not  at  all 
unbecoming. 

"  It  is  strange  that  glasses,  and  the  near-sighted  air 
should  impress  us,  is  it  not  ?  "  said  Ottilie.  "  Not  to 
be  able  to  see  very  well  is  rather  distinguished  ;  but 
if  a  person  cannot  quite  hear,  or  taste,  or  smell,  or 
has  lost  an  arm  or  leg,  no  merit  whatever  attaches 
to  those  infirmities." 

The  exploring  party  who  had  been  to  the  cellars 
continued  to  compliment  the  merchant  prince  upon 
his  mansion.  He  received  their  praises  modestly. 
He  even  made  a  pretense  that  it  was  but  a  poor  affair 
at  best. 


232  THE   HOUSE   OF  A  MERCHANT  PRINCE. 

"  They  turned  us  out  of  Union  Square,''  he  said. 
"  We  found  we  could  not  afford  to  live  on  property 
worth  four  thousand  dollars  a  foot.  So  we  crept  in 
to  a  shelter  from  the  weather  as  best  we  could.1' 

"  I  understand  that  I  am  found  fault  with,  in  some 
quarters,"  he  continued,  "  for  not  having  built  in  a 
more  correct  taste.  I  am  aware  of  the  existence  of 
certain  fashionable  new  styles,  —  4  Queen  Anne,' 
'  Queen  Elizabeth,'  and  the  like.  But  this  is  to  be 
borne  in  mind  ;  if  you  ever  wish  to  dispose  of  a  house 
of  the  regular  pattern  you  always  have  a  customer 
for  it,  while  if  it  be  out  of  the  common  you  must  wait 
for  somebody  to  come  along  who  is  educated  up  to  it. 
We  are  in  such  a  transition  state,  too,  through  the 
growth  of  the  city,  that  it  is  but  a  question  of  time  — 
and  of  a  short  one  at  best  —  when  any  and  all  of  our 
houses  will  be  torn  down  for  stores,  or  readjusted  as 
they  stand." 

"  If  I  had  the  caricaturist's  faculty,"  said  the  Hon. 
Lyman  Redway,  "  I  should  represent  private  life  in 
New  York  in  the  guise  of  a  brown  stone  mansion, 
tearing  up  Fifth  Avenue,  with  a  rag,  tag,  and  bobtail 
of  shop-fronts  in  full  cry  behind  it.  The  chase  began 
at  the  Battery,  continued  all  the  way  up  Broadway, 
and  is  now  Hearing  the  Central  Park." 

"Better  pull  them  down  before  they  tumble  down 
and  crumble  down  of  themselves,  as  they  seem  in- 
clined to  do,  with  this  soft  brown  sandstone  so  much 
in  use,"  pronounced  the  journalist  Blithewood  Gwin. 
"  Perhaps  you  have  seen,"  —  to  Redway,  —  "  and  if 
you  have  not  you  should,  —  a  curious  antediluvian 
bird- track  that  has  lately  appeared,  on  the  corner- 
stone of  this  mansion.  For  my  part,  I  never  look 
about  me  but  I  see  surfaces  flaked,  corners  gone,  and 


THE   MERCHANT   PRINCE   DINES   AN   ECONOMIST.      233 

even  stout  balusters  eaten  away  to  a  good  half  of 
their  substance." 

"  Mineral  substances  are  contained  in  the  stone," 
began  Dr.  Wyburd.  "  Or  the  grains  are  imperfectly 
consolidated,  which  admits  of  the  absorption  of  water, 
and  freezing  and  thawing.  I  hold,  however,  so  far 
as  that  is  concerned,  that  the  bird  track  in  ques- 
tion "  — 

"  Bird-tracks,  —  that  is  always  such  a  bad  sign," 
interrupted  Mrs.  Harvey,  half  absently.  She  ap- 
pealed with  a  little  anxious  nod  to  the  ex-secretary's 
wife,  who  returned  the  nod  in  a  confidential  way. 

"  Bother  signs  !  Why  are  there  never  any  good 
ones?"  exclaimed  Angelica. 

"  Where,  then,  is  private  life,  being  so  harassed  and 
pursued,  going  to  ?  "  asked  Redway. 

"  Up  in  the  air,  with  the  French  flats,"  suggested 
Blithe  wood  Gwin.  "  That  is  its  only  refuge,  since 
space  is  so  scant  on  this  narrow  little  island.  I  ex- 
pect to  see,  in  time,  flats  higher  than  Cologne  Ca- 
thedral. Why  not,  with  that  beneficent  invention, 
the  elevator?  Why  cannot  an  elevator  be  made  to 
run  up  a  quarter  of  a  mile?  " 

"  Well,  it  would  suit  me  if  private  life  would  seek 
that  refuge  at  once,  and  let  my  place  at  Fort  Wash- 
ington alone,"  grumbled  Sprowle  Onderdonk,  "  In 
a  general  chaos  going  on  there,  they  are  cutting  a 
boulevard  directly  through  the  centre  of  it.  The 
worst  of  it  is,  it  takes  the  old  house  in  its  course.  I 
am  to  give  a  garden  party  there  shortly,  the  day  be- 
fore they  begin  to  -pull  it  down.  It  will  be  quite  a 
historic  sort  of  an  occasion.  Dr.  Wyburd  has  agreed 
to  give  us  a  poem.  I  should  be  glad  "  —  to  the  guest 
of  the  evening  — "  if  you  would  come.  Will  you 
allow  me  to  send  you  a  card  ?  " 


234  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

"  Such  a  charming  old  mansion  !  "  Mrs.  Sprowle 
took  upon  herself  to  explain.  "  It  is  the  Sprowle 
country-seat,  though  now  in  possession  of  the  Onder- 
donk  branch.  It  was  built  by  colonial  Governor 
Sprowle.  Almost  everybody  of  note,  both  in  the 
old  times  and  later,  has  been  entertained  there." 

"  It  is  probably  in  that  high,  rocky  part  of  the 
town,  overlooking  the  river,  that  the  great  residences 
of  the  future  will  be  built,  before  the  up-in-the-air 
period  of  which  we  are  told  begins,"  said  the  mayor. 
"  They  will  probably  be  on  a  scale  of  magnificence 
beyond  anything  yet  reached." 

"  Are  we  to  think,  then,  that  it  can  ever  be  safe 
to  greatly  increase  the  present  style  of  display  ?  " 
Dr.  Miltimore  inquired.  "  An  alarming  spirit  of  so- 
cialistic revolt  has  already  appeared,  and  who  shall 
say  to  what  lengths  it  may  reach  ?  Communism  in 
a  republic,  with  all  our  safety-valves,  our  opportu- 
nities for  expansion  and  legal  redress,  our  equal 
rights,  which  should  obviate  the  need  of  it,  is  a  more 
dangerous  symptom  perhaps  than  under  monarchical 
governments,  where  it  has  a  certain  excuse  for  exist- 
ence." 

"  I  have  every  confidence  in  the  people,"  announced 
Rodman  Harvey. 

"  So  have  I.  That  is  what  we  say  when  we  are 
running  for  office,"  said  the  governor.  "  Our  friend 
Gwin  can  put  it  in  his  paper.  But,  between  our- 
selves, we  recollect  what  we  have  seen  in  some  of  the 
railroad  strikes,  for  instance.  Militia  regiments  loan 
their  muskets  to  the  rioters,  and  timid  officials  fail 
to  take  even  such  steps  for  repression  as  are  open 
to  them  ;  though,  to  be  sure,  very  little  is  open. 
Abroad  there  are  the  standing  armies  to  put  down 


THE   MERCHANT   PRINCE  DINES  AN  ECOMOMIST.      235 

disturbances.  But  suppose  a  really  serious  fight 
breaks  out  here  between  capital  and  labor,  or  be- 
tween wealth  and  poverty,  —  suppose  a  mob  take  it 
into  their  heads,  for  instance,  to  be  enraged  at  the 
superior  dwelling  our  host  here  lives  in  ;  what  is  to 
prevent  their  bringing  it  clattering  down  about  his 
ears  ?" 

"  You  must  let  us  get  a  crack  at  them  with  the 
Narragansett  Gun  Club  first,"  suggested  Sprowle 
Onderdonk. 

44  The  side  that  can  pay  is  all  right,"  maintained 
Hackley.  "  Your  communists  would  rather  take  two 
dollars  a  day,  any  time,  to  defend  property,  than  pull 
it  down  on  speculation." 

"  Our  government,  perhaps  our  whole  system,  may 
yet  need  changing,"  observed  the  ex-secretary.  "  I 
am  not  one  of  those  who  believe  that  the  last  word 
has  been  said,  or  perfection  reached,  republic  though 
we  are.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  clap-trap  on  that 
subject.  A  government  should  be  simply  the  most 
efficient  police  and  central  business  agency  for  the 
public  ;  that  is  all.  In  itself  it  is  entitled  to  no  rev- 
erence whatever." 

"  I  confess,  for  my  part,  that  I  do  not  easily  con- 
ceive a  more  perfect  luxury  than  this,"  resumed  Dr. 
Miltimore,  gazing  about  him  admiringly.  "  Perhaps 
we  do  not  sufficiently  understand  the  point  to  which 
we  have  already  attained.  If  my  good  friend,  our 
host,  will  allow  ine  to  speak  of  him  thus,  I  dare  say 
that  in  personal  state  as  well  as  actual  power  and 
scope  of  affairs  he  far  surpasses  many  or  most  of 
those  great  merchants  of  the  Low  Countries  and 
Venice  and  Tyre  and  Sidon,  over  whom  history 
makes  such  a  stir." 


236  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

"  Hear  !  hear!  "  cried  several  guests,  clinking  spoons 
against  their  glasses  in  polite  accord. 

This  should  have  been  a  rather  proud  moment  for 
Rodman  Harvey,  to  be  thus  described  and  acclaimed 
by  such  competent  judges.  Is  there  no  one  at  hand, 
in  the  fashion  of  the  old  classic  triumphs,  to  whisper 
in  his  ear,  " After  all,  man  is  but  mortal"  ?  Per- 
haps it  is  to  the  sage-looking  William  Skiff,  bending 
forward  now  for  an  instant  towards  his  master,  that 
this  duty  has  been  confided.  No,  he  but  receives  an 
omitted  direction  concerning  the  wines. 

The  illumination  at  the  table  was  peculiarly  favor- 
able to  Mrs.  Rodman  Harvey.  By  day  her  complex- 
ion began  to  have  a  parched  look,  and  show  deep  lit- 
tle furrows,  which  had  once  been  soft  and  mobile 
lines,  at  the  corners  of  nose  and  mouth,  as  if  Father 
Time  had  been  so  well  pleased  with  them  that  he 
had  never  stopped  till  he  had  graven  them  in.  By 
night  there  was  still  a  good  deal  of  it  left.  She  now 
went  back  a  little  upon  the  last  subject,  and  turned 
it  her  own  way. 

"  Governments  ?  yes,  I  think  so,  too,"  she  said. 
"  They  ought  to  be  changed.  I  am  sure  ours  is  very 
far  from  perfect.  If  something  could  be  done  now 
to  establish  by  law  the  positions  of  the  best  people  ! 
I  used  to  reflect  upon  it  in  Europe.  There  were  my 
children,  brought  up  with  every  luxury  and  refine- 
ment. Why  were  they  not  just  as  worthy  of  titles  as 
many  I  saw  enjoying  them,  without  half  their  advan- 
tages ?  Under  the  Empire,  now  —  Of  course  I  was 
not  in  favor  of  the  Empire ;  so  much  was  said  in  the 
newspapers —  Still,  it  was  very  pleasant.  The  Em- 
peror used  to  ride  in  the  Bois  every  day,  and  he  quite 
got  to  know  the  children  at   the  school  where  my 


THE   MERCHANT    PRINCE   DINES   AN   ECONOMIST.     237 

daughter  Angelica  was  —  You  remember,  dear  — 
He  used  to  smile  as  he  passed,  when  the  pupils  were 
walking,  and  make  the  little  Prince  Imperial  bow,  too, 
and  kiss  his  hand.  It  was  very  charming.  Do  you 
not  think,"  to  Redway,  "  something  should  be  done 
to  give  family  its  just  rights  ?  Do  you  not  think  a 
great  deal  more  ought  to  be  made  with  us  of  the  aris- 
tocratic quality  ?  " 

"  I  should  have  to  rule  myself  out  so  completely 
that  I  dare  not  agree  with  you,"  returned  the  Hon. 
Lyman  Redway.  "  I  find  myself  almost  sharing  cer- 
tain prejudices  based  upon  the  feeling  you  speak  of; 
but  possibly  you  do  not  remember  that  I  began  life 
as  a  shoemaker.    I  am,  as  it  were,  my  own  ancestor." 

He  spoke,  as  his  habit  was,  in  a  full  manly  voice, 
and  at  entire  ease,  as  if  making  the  most  agreeable 
statement  in  the  world. 

44  How  delightful !  "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Harvey,  feign- 
ing, with  difficulty,  a  polite  enthusiasm. 

"  He  is  a  bold  one  to  beard  the  lions  in  their  den," 
said  Bainbridge,  allowing  himself  to  find  a  certain 
amusement  in  the  circumstance.  "  Look  at  Mrs. 
Sprowle  !  Have  you  ever  seen  her  wear  a  more  su- 
premely Roman-nosed,  uncompromising  expression  of 
disdain  ?  She  believes  in  the  refinement  and  perfec- 
tion of  types  from  generation  to  generation  by  careful 
abstinence  from  any  part  in  the  useful  work  of  the 
world." 

"  How  !  You  abet  scoffing  at  family,  —  you  who 
are  yourself  so  '  swell  ?  '  "  returned  Ottilie.  "  I  have 
it  both  from  Miss  Emily  Rawson  and  Mrs.  Ambler." 

She  held  up  two  fingers  of  each  hand  curved  in- 
wards in  a  way  she  had  of  putting  an  objectionable 
word  in  quotation  marks.     It  seemed  as  if  the  con- 


238  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

straint  between  them  were  going  to  thaw  out,  and 
the  sun  to  appear. 

"  Our  basis  for  such  distinctions  is  so  weak,"  said 
Bainbridge.  "  We  descend  from  our  little  lawyers, 
doctors,  and  store-keepers.  They  have  had  to  count 
their  pennies,  have  kept  but  a  beggarly  servant  or 
two,  and  had  the  plow  or  the  mechanic's  bench  but  a 
short  remove  behind  them  at  best.  The  large,  grand 
way  of  living  of  the  great  families  abroad,  on  the 
other  hand,  might  seem  to  beget  correspondingly 
large  and  noble  ideas,  though  we  see  as  matter  of 
fact  that  even  that  does  not  do  it.  Still  if  we  had  our 
duke,  now,  with  his  two  palaces,  his  three  castles,  his 
four  or  five  i  halls,'  and  hunting  lodges  ad  infinitum  ; 
and  a  line  of  ancestors  who  had  led  armies  and  fleets, 
swayed  Parliaments,  and  been  as  magnificent  as  him- 
self for  five  or  six  hundred  years,  —  that  would  be 
something  like." 

"  This  setting  up  to  be  better  one  than  another," 
said  Ottilie,  "  seems  universal,  in  some  form,  and 
confined  to  no  class." 

"  Of  course  it  is.  The  butcher  gives  himself  airs 
over  the  baker  and  the  candlestick  maker,  at  one  ex- 
treme of  society  ;  and  no  doubt  there  are  emperors 
who  look  down  upon  vulgar,  pushing  little,  upstart 
kings,  at  the  other.  It  is  useless  to  rail  at  the  trait. 
We  are  to  go  on  torturing  one  another  with  it,  I  sup- 
pose, till  the  end  of  time." 

"  Would  you  have  no  distinctions  at  all,  —  no  so- 
cial aspiration  ?  " 

"  A  legitimate  desire,  I  should  think,  would  be  to 
wish  to  be  as  good  as  the  best,  but  not  any  better. 
Even  that  would  do  away  with  many  a  heart-burning. 
I   should   say  that  an  aristocrat,  nowadays,  should 


THE   MERCHANT    PRINCE   DINES   AN   ECONOMIST.      239 

have  a  good  mind,  good  intentions,  and  be  presentably 
dressed,  and  healthy,  if  possible.  He  should  be  cour- 
ageous —  wedded  to  whatever  is  refined  and  beauti- 
ful, but  not  enervated,  not  afraid  to  march  and  leave 
it  at  the  word  of  command  given  by  a  higher  duty. 
Red  way  here  seems  to  have  most  of  what  is  needed 
just  at  present." 

They  were  getting  on  with  a  certain  animation  in 
this  matter,  when  Miss  Ada  Trull  chose  to  lean 
towards  Ottilie,  from  the  other  side  of  the  table,  with 
a  pose  and  beaming  smile  which  might  have  been 
pure  friendliness,  or  only  intended  for  effect  upon 
some  masculine  admirer,  and  say,  — 

"  We  are  talking  about  Mr.  Onderdonk's  fete. 
The  Baron  and  I  are  going  up  on  Mr.  Kingbolt's 
drag.     I  hear  that  you  also  are  to  be  of  our  party  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  returned  Ottilie.  "  Mr.  Kingbolt  has  asked 
me." 

Bainbridge  cut  short  a  speech  he  had  under  way, 
and  withdrew  into  himself.  Ottilie  felt  the  change. 
Something  had  distorted  their  old  relations,  as  they 
saw  themselves  distorted  in  the  convexities  of  the  sil- 
ver utensils  before  them. 

The  recent  Bloomfield  case  came  up  for  discussion, 
among  other  topics.  It  was  an  old  story.  Bloomfield, 
a  once  reputable  person  and  high  financial  authority, 
had  embezzled  trust  funds  and  lost  them  in  Wall 
Street.  A  number  of  society  people,  among  others 
the  ingenious  Mrs.  Eglantine,  had  suffered  cruelly  by 
him. 

"  It  is  the  strangest  thing,"  declared  Mrs.  Harvey. 
"  I  would  have  trusted  that  man  with  untold  mill- 
ions." 

"  To  be  sure  you  would,  madam,"  commented  Dr. 


240  THE  HOUSE  OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

Wyburd.  "  That  is  precisely  the  sort  of  person  who 
can  do  those  things.  Without  our  confidence,  how 
could  he  secure  the  necessary  opportunities  ?  " 

"  He  admitted,  when  captured,  that  it  was  an  in- 
conceivable relief  to  him  after  the  whole  thing  was 
out,"  said  the  ex-secretary.  "  He  declared  that  no 
punishment  could  equal  the  torment  he  had  endured 
for  months,  in  the  vain  endeavor  to  conceal  his 
frauds  and  redeem  himself  from  the  vortex  of  specu- 
lation." 

"  It  shows  the  amount  of  comfort  there  is  in  such 
courses,"  said  Dr.  Miltimore.  "  And  the  truth  of 
the  saying,  '  Stone  walls  do  not  a  prison  make,  nor 
iron  bars  a  cage.'  He  carried  around  with  him,  a 
cage  of  his  own  making  more  secure  than  triple  steel. 
No  doubt  every  instance  in  which  he  saw  others  ex- 
posed, while  he  still  escaped,  —  for  the  papers  abound 
with  these  cases  every  day,  —  filled  him  with  dread 
and  remorse,  and  served  as  a  part  of  his  punish- 
ment." 

The  guest  Hackley  fidgeted  in  his  chair,  and  cast 
furtive  glances  towards  their  host. 

"  Considering  the  opportunities  afforded  by  the  un- 
limited necessity  for  confidence  that  exists,  and  the 
way  we  are  all  more  or  less  cheated  in  smaller  mat- 
ters," said  the  governor  in  a  confidential  tone  to  Ot- 
tilie,  "  it  may  be  that  there  is  much  more  of  this 
Bloomfield  business  going  on  than  is  usually  sup- 
posed. Possibly,  even,  it  is  only  the  few  who  come 
to  grief,  while  the  majority  tide  over  their  infractions 
of  the  law,  their  perils  and  difficulties,  the  chances 
turning  in  their  favor,  and  are  never  discovered. 
Come  !  that  is  a  rather  good  idea.  Your  uncle,  with 
his  large  experience  of  life,  should  know.    Let  us  ask 


THE  MERCHANT  PRINCE  DINES  AN  ECONOMIST.         241 

him.  Ask  him,"  he  said,  with  a  pretense  of  egging 
her  on,  in  a  mischievous  way/"  whether  commercial 
life  is  really  teeming  with  dishonesty,  temporarily 
hidden:  whether  all  of  his  business  associates,  if  the 
truth  were  known,  are  as  bad  as  Bloomfield,  or 
worse." 

"  Xo  indeed  ;  I  shall  do  nothing  of  the  kind,"  re- 
plied Ottilie. 

But  her  neighbor  appeared  to  find  this  way  of  put- 
ting his  question  by  proxy  too  facetious  an  idea  to  be 
abandoned. 

"Your  niece  was  asking" — he  began;  but  his 
voice  was  overpoAvered  by  other  conversation. 

"  Your  niece  was  asking,"  he  persisted,  this  time 
securing  the  attention  of  Rodman  Harvey,  "  whether 
there  is  an  immense  amount  of  Bloomfieldism  in 
business  life,  successfully  consummated  and  never 
heard  of  ?  I  think  I  shall  have  to  refer  her  to  you. 
What  is  your  opinion?  The  point  is,  whether  all  of 
you  Chamber  of  Commerce  men,  to  whom  our  friend 
Red  way  has  been  expounding  on  the  tariff,  are  merely 
first-class  peculators,  embezzlers,  and  forgers  in  dis- 
guise, only  waiting  to  be  found  out." 

'*  You  know  I  did  not  ask  that,  uncle  Rodman," 
protested  Ottilie,  in  confusion. 

She  fancied  she  caught  the  eye  of  Bainbridge  fixed 
upon  her  with  a  peculiar  scrutiny.  Might  not  her 
protest  be  construed  into  an  indication  that  there 
were  reasons  why  she  should  not  have  asked  the 
question,  if  she  had  wished  ?  Pshaw  !  What  mis- 
understandings !  What  an  agitation  over  a  nonsen- 
sical bit  of  pleasantry  ! 

Hackley  at  the  question  had  dropped  his  dessert- 
spoon with  a  clatter.  It  fell  upon  his  plate  of  Dres- 
16 


242  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

den  china  with  perforated  border,  and  thence  to  the 
floor.  He  stooped  hastily  for  it,  not  waiting  for  the 
servant,  and  came  up  with  a  flushed  face,  which  he 
mopped  with  a  handkerchief. 

But  the  merchant  prince  himself,  entirely  unflut- 
tered,  answered  with  a  deliberative  calmness.  The 
glance  of  Hackley  might  now  have  been  thought  to 
have  an  admiring  character,  as  who  should  say,  — 

"  Well,  if  you  are  not  a  cool  hand,  I  know  little 
about  it,  —  that  is  all." 

Rodman  Harvey's  smile  was  faint,  it  is  true ;  but 
then  his  smiles  were  never  broad. 

"  I  am  inclined  to  think,"  he  replied,  "  that  the 
greater  part  of  the  dishonesty  that  exists  comes  to 
light.  The  community  has  a  certain  safeguard,  in 
my  opinion,  in  that  the  persons  who  engage  in  such 
courses  soon  lose  their  heads  under  the  stress  of  the 
burdens  and  anxieties,  and  cannot  long  maintain  the 
coolness  and  sagacity  needed  for  success  to  save  them 
from  exposure." 

The  ladies  rose  and  withdrew,  rustling  their  silken 
robes  over  the  floor.  The  gentlemen  remained  a 
while,  to  smoke  some  choice  cigars  made  to  Rodman 
Harvey's  special  order.  Though  he  himself  touched 
tobacco  in  no  form,  he  thought  it  in  keeping  with 
his  dignity  to  give  his  guests  the  best.  Presently 
they  joined  the  ladies  again,  in  a  music-room  hung  in 
red  damask,  where  coffee  was  served,  with  cordials  in 
little  cups  of  crystal  in  Russian  gold  filigree.  A  trio 
of  excellent  professional  voices  entertained  the  com- 
pany with  singing. 

In  the  freedom  of  the  first  breaking  up,  Baron  Au, 
showing  in  a  stretching  way  his  relief  after  the  long 
sitting,  approached  Daisy  Goldstone. 


THE  MERCHANT  PRINCE  DINES  AN  ECONOMIST.         243 

"  If  you  did  hear  me  z-the  Lorn  to  blow  when  I 
pass  your  house  on  z-the  coach,  about  ten  of  clock 
last  night  ?  "  he  inquired. 

"  Oh,  was  that  you  ?  I  thought  it  was  Mr.  Rowley, 
or  Mr.  Kingbolt.  They  often  do  it  when  they  come 
by  late." 

Dr.  Wyburd,  moving  easily  about  with  his  hands 
behind  him,  caught  the  name  last  spoken. 

"There  is  a  fortunate  person,  young  Kingbolt," 
he  said.  "  I  should  just  like  to  have  his  income  a 
few  months,  that  's  all." 

"Is  it  really  so  very  large?"  Angelica  inquired, 
with  interest. 

"  The  Eureka  Tool  Works  is  on  an  enormous  scale, 
and,  I  hear,  doing  particularly  well.  I  had  especial 
facilities  for  knowing  a  good  deal  about  the  whole 
thing  at  one  time,  but  that  was  years  ago.  Old  Col- 
onel Kingbolt  died,  as  you  might  say,  in  my  arms.  A 
curious  thing,  —  I  happened  to  be  at  Bridgehaven  at 
the  time,  and  the  family  were  good  enough  to  think 
that  my  services  might  possibly  be  of  avail.  It  was 
a  trifle  that  killed  him.  He  allowed  himself  to  be 
agitated  over  it  in  such  a  way  that  it  proved  the  im- 
mediate cause  of  his  death.  He  was  a  particularly 
excitable  man." 

"  Ah,  indeed?"  said  Angelica. 

"  Somebody  had  used  his  name  in  the  way  of 
forgery,"  went  on  the  speaker,  who  needed  but  slight 
encouragement  to  be  discursive.  "He  got  news  of  it 
from  some  bank  here  in  New  York.  It  was  rather 
hushed  up.  There  was  something  mysterious  about 
it.  The  bank  officials  would  not  give  him  names  or 
particulars,  after  they  heard  that  the  paper  they  held 
was  not  made  by  him.    Their  refusal  drove  him  wild. 


244  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

I  never  heard  that  there  was  any  particular  loss  to 
anybody  by  the  transaction.  It  might  have  been  an 
error,  a  misunderstanding.  At  any  rate,  I  never 
learned  more.  This  is  one  of  the  cases  where  a 
favorite  idea  of  mine,  that  if  you  hear  the  first  part 
of  a  good  story  you  are  likely  in  time  to  hear  the 
last,  has  not  been  borne  out." 

"  But  you  may  hear  yet,  doctor." 

u  Oh,  I  dare  say.  But  it  is  of  no  consequence. 
Only  I  sometimes  think  of  it  in  seeing  the  son,  and 
remarking  a  certain  resemblance  between  him  and 
his  father.  The  circumstance  I  have  mentioned 
took  place  in  the  last  days  just  preceding  the  out- 
break of  the  war.  It  came  upon  the  top  of  the  ex- 
citements of  that  eventful  time.  Kingbolt  imagined 
plots  to  undermine  the  great  enterprise  he  had  built 
up.  He  had  the  gloomiest  forebodings,  too,  of  the 
state  of  the  country.  He  feared  that  the  rebellion 
was  to  be  its  disintegration  and  ruin.  It  came  also 
upon  the  top  of  a  period  of  excesses,  ending  in  some- 
thing like  an  attack  of  apoplexy,  which  had  confined 
him  to  his  bed.  Between  ourselves,  he  was  not  a 
man  of  the  most  exemplary  habits.  He  was  a  hard 
drinker,  not  regularly  but  by  fits  and  starts.  No 
constitution  less  robust  could  have  stood  it  so  long. 
A  fine  animal :  handsome,  full  blooded,  with  curling 
hair,  a  thick  neck,  a  muscular  arm,  and  a  temper  like 
a  Berserker's.  A  remarkable  person  in  many  ways 
was  old  Colonel  Kingbolt.  Not  so  old,  either,  since 
he  was  cut  off  at  forty-seven,  in  the  prime  of  his 
days.  He  had  made  his  own  way  up  from  the  bot- 
tom,—  the  regular  American  history." 

"  One  gets  so  tired  of  the  regular  American  his- 
tory," said  Angelica. 


THE  MERCHANT  PRINCE  DINES  AN  ECONOMIST.         245 

"  He  had  a  remarkable  inventive  faculty  and  a 
naturally  fine  mind,  that  would  have  commanded 
respect  anywhere.  He  had  the  good  taste  to  marry 
an  amiable  and  refined  lady,  who  no  doubt  kept 
him  somewhat  in  check.  Now,  to  show  you  what  he 
accomplished  entirely  by  his  own  exertions  "  — 

The  doctor  proceeded  to  give  some  details  about 
the  Kingbolt  manufacturing  property. 

Bainbridge  observing  Ottilie  among  the  listeners, 
chose,  with  that  time-honored  fatuity  in  virtue  of 
which  lovers  drag  difficulties  into  their  own  way  and 
plant  them  obstinately  there  with  both  hands,  to 
represent  her  as  drinking  in  eagerly  the  enumeration 
of  her  lover's  riches.  He  seized  an  early  opportunity 
to  take  his  leave,  and  departed. 

He  walked  a  long  way  up  the  Avenue  in  the  dark, 
then  down,  and  turned  into  the  more  cheerful  bright- 
ness of  Broadway.  The  audiences  were  now  coming 
out  from  the  theatres.  He  saw  young  husbands,  with 
young  wives  who  clung  to  their  arms,  and  looked  up 
contentedly  in  their  faces,  as  they  trudged  away  home- 
ward, engaged  in  pleasant  comments  on  the  play. 

He  entered  a  horse-car,  and  there  was  a  charming 
young  couple  with  a  large  sleepy  child.  They  had 
come,  he  judged,  from  the  few  w?ords  of  talk  they  ex- 
changed, from  spending  a  day  in  the  country.  They 
said  they  were  very  glad  to  get  home.  The  child,  a 
girl,  lovable  in  the  abandon  of  her  sleepiness,  with 
long  legs  in  floss-embroidered  stockings,  which  dan- 
gled to  the  floor,  sat  between  them  and  held  a  hand 
of  each. 

How  sweet  it  was,  that  ideal  of  domestic  happiness  ! 
"Am  I  a  pariah,  then,"  he  said,  "that  it  is  never 
for  me  ?  " 


246  THE    HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    TRIXCE. 

He  sat  late  in  his  chamber,  trying  to  read,  but 
giving  way  further  to  the  bitterness  of  his  thoughts. 

Opening  his  window,  in  the  still  small  hours  of 
the  morning,  he  observed  a  great  fire  in  progress  at 
a  distance.  Serpent-like  flames  were  licking  up 
from  a  looming  mass  of  dark  buildings  to  the  coppery 
sky.  He  thought  it  might  be  the  furniture  factory 
of  Hackley  &  Valentine,  and  so  the  next  day  it 
proved.  The  distance  was  too  remote  for  any  of  the 
uproar  of  the  conflagration  to  be  heard.  It  burned 
a  while  as  if  in  silence,  and  quite  uninterfered  with. 
The  interior  of  the  block  before  him  took  a  strong 
ruddy  glow.  Every  least  object  came  out  with  a 
vivid  distinctness,  down  to  the  clothes  on  the  lines. 

Then  the  flames  began  to  abate.  Deluging  streams 
were  being  poured  in  upon  them.  The  interior  of 
the  block  retired  again  into  its  wonted  obscurity. 
Then,  upon  the  darkness  of  the  night  arose  showers 
of  glittering  sparks,  scourged  from  the  embers  by  the 
water,  and  began  to  drift  gently  along  the  sky.  It 
was  as  if  the  destroyed  property  were  transmuted 
into  a  value  a  million  times  greater  in  some  kind  of 
celestial  coinage. 

Or  again  it  was  like  the  pretty  classic  fable  of 
Jupiter  searching  for  Danae,  in  the  form  of  a  rain 
of  gold.  The  assumed  mercenariness  of  woman  has 
been  a  favorite  complaint  with  lovers  from  the  be- 
ginning of  time. 

"  That  is  right,"  cried  Bainbridge,  humoring  this 
last  conceit ;  "  that  is  right.  To  the  northward  I 
To  the  corner  of  West  Blank  Street  and  the  Avenue  I 
She  is  there.     Danae  is  there." 


XVII. 

THE  PAST   OF   KINGBOLT   OF   KINGBOLTSVILLE. 

The  despised  passion  of  jealousy  had,  after  all, 
done  its  work  with  Bainbridge.  It  had  shown  him 
that  he  was  violently  in  love.  Forced  to  contemplate 
Ottilie  as  the  wife  of  another,  he  knew  the  desperate 
pain  it  would  cost  him  to  lose  her. 

"  Piece  of  my  life,"  he  cried  aloud,  "  how  shall  I 
tear  you  out  of  it?     What  can  I  do  without  you  ?  " 

It  did  not  answer  to  recall  the  days  of  Madeline 
Scarrett,  and  to  charge  himself  fiercely  with  being  of 
a  weakly  susceptible  disposition.  Some  obstinate  in- 
terior voice  kept  repeating  of  Ottilie,  in  spite  of  his 
assumed  belief  in  her  un worthiness,  — 

"  She  is  what  you  only  fancied  the  other  to  be." 

The  former  experience,  however,  had  made  him  in- 
tensely skeptical,  and  added  to  his  natural  fund  of 
stoical  reserve.  He  knew  that  it  was  possible  to 
conquer  and  forget. 

Such  enforced  conquests  sometimes  eat  out  the 
vitals  of  a  warm  and  generous  nature,  and  leave  it 
like  a  forest  tree  through  which  a  flame  of  fire  has 
run. 

The  brain  of  the  young  man  seethed  with  a  hun- 
dred contradictory  plans.  Before  he  had  time  to 
carry  any  of  them  into  execution,  something  occurred 
to  put  a  very  different  aspect  on  the  case. 

Meantime  he   had  suffered    himself   to  be  drawn 


248  THE   HOUSE   OF    A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

back,  one  evening,  for  distraction,  to  Miss  Emily 
Raw  son's.  That  affable  acquaintance  affected  at  first 
to  take  him  for  a  stranger,  who,  by  some  mistake,  had 
got  into  the  wrong  house.  She  refused  his  hand,  but 
presently  took  it  with  a  warm  and  friendly  pressure. 
She  was  embroidering  a  table  cover,  seated  by  an 
astral  lamp,  which  stood  upon  a  small  table,  and  cast 
around  a  becoming  light.  She  had  taken  a  new  in- 
terest of  late  in  decorative  art,  a  society  where  its 
principles  were  advocated,  and  a  wareroom  where 
articles  made  in  accordance  with  them  were  offered 
for  sale. 

"  My  design  is  something  out  of  the  common,"  she 
said,  holding  the  work  up  to  inspection.  "  How  do 
you  like  it  ?  It  was  drawn  expressly  for  me  by  Mr. 
Lloyd,  the  architect.  I  met  him  at  Bridgehaven, 
where  I  spent  a  few  days  last  summer.  Bridgehaven 
is  not  at  all  a  bad  summer  resort.  The  air  there 
is  very  good.  Mr.  Lloyd  and  I  were  at  the  same 
hotel.  We  spoke  of  you  among  others.  He  told  me 
you  were  classmates  at  college." 

u  Yes,  we  were  classmates.  We  used  to  call  him 
simply  4  G.'  I  recollect  him  better  by  that  than  by 
his  name.  There  was  another  Lloyd,  known  as  '  A. 
B.'     It  was  necessary  to  distinguish  them." 

"  That  college  life  must  have  been  so  pleasant. 
By  the  way,  we  were  near  the  large  property  of  an- 
other classmate  of  yours,  —  Mr.  Kingbolt." 

Bainbridge  heard  this  name  with  astonishment. 
He  had  come  here  for  some  small  aid  in  escaping  the 
memory  of  it,  and  it  was  the  very  first  thing  to  be 
forced  upon  his  attention 

"  Yes,"  the  fair  embroiderer  went  on,  kk  there  was 
a  glimpse  from  my  window  of  Kingboltsville,  — the 


THE  PAST  OF  KINGBOLT  OF  KINGBOLTSVILLE.   249 

factories,  a  private  race-track,  and  the  large  stuccoed 
mansion  where  the  family  resides.  The  conservatory 
is  immense.  I  was  told  that  the  original  Kingbolt 
bought  all  the  land  thereabouts  for  a  song,  and  re- 
deemed it.  The  best  of  it  is  among  the  most  desir- 
able residence  property  in  the  city,  of  which  it  now 
forms  a  part.  I  saw  the  fortunate  heir's  mother  and 
sisters,  but  he  himself  was  not  at  home.  I  was  not 
interested  in  him,  however,  at  that  time,  but  just 
now  I  am.     I  want  you  to  tell  me  about  him." 

"  I  don't  know  that  I  recollect  anything  in  partic- 
ular.    I  am  afraid  I  cannot  help  you." 

"  What  was  he  like  in  college  ?  " 

"  We  were  not  intimate  friends.  —  Bridgehaven 
struck  you,  then,  as  a  passable  summer  resort  ?  For 
my  part,  I  find  chose  interior  Connecticut  cities  too 
warm." 

u  Did  he  graduate  with  a  high  rank  ?  Was  he  a 
hard  student  ?"  the  questioner  persisted. 

"  He  was  dismissed  for  some  informality,  I  believe, 
before  arriving  as  far  as  that,"  said  Bainbridge,  with 
a  kind  of  final  air. 

"And  is  that  all?" 

"  Yes  —  no  —  I  believe  that  is  all." 

"  Well,  that  is  not  enough  for  me.  Ah,  here  is 
Mr.  Lloyd.  I  shall  ask  him.  Perhaps  he  has  conde- 
scended to  burden  his  mind  with  a  little  more  detail." 

Mr.  Lloyd,  who  was  in  the  habit  of  calling  occa- 
sionally, entered  now  in  fact  to  pay  his  respects. 

"  I  want  a  description  of  Kingbolt  of  Kingbolts- 
ville,  whose  place  we  saw  last  summer,"  said  Miss 
Rawson.  "  Mr.  Bainbridge  won't  tell  me  anything. 
I  have  reasons  for  wranting  to  know." 

"  I  cannot  be  expected  to  say  much  good  of  him, 


250  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

you  know,"  returned  Lloyd.  "  Well,  I  was  in  his  set 
both  in  college  and  for  some  time  afterwards,  and  I 
dare  say  I  understand  him  about  as  well  as  anybody. 
He  left  the  alma  mater  considerably  earlier  than  the 
rest  of  us,  owing  to  circumstances,  as  the  saying  is, 
over  which  he  had  no  control.  He  dashed  his  money 
freely,  and  lived  in  great  luxury,  for  that  primitive 
time  and  place.  It  used  to  be  said  that  he  never 
wore  a  suit  of  clothes  a  second  time.  That  is  a 
period,  you  know,  when  fellows  are  very  particular 
about  their  clothes.  Among  other  doings,  he  erected 
a  hall  at  his  own  expense  for  his  secret  society. 
Bless  me,  how  much  we  once  thought  of  that  non- 
sense !  There  was  no  secret  at  all,  you  know,  but  wo 
pretended  that  there  was  ;  had  a  meeting  place  which 
from  the  outside  looked  like  a  charnel-house,  though 
we  did  nothing  but  play  cards,  and  drink  claret 
punches  within  ;  and  we  went  around  with  the 
mysterious  air  of  murderers.  The  hall  cost  Kingbolt 
forty  thousand  dollars.  He  got  his  mother  to  per- 
suade his  trustees  to  let  him  have  the  money.  They 
thought  that  perhaps  he  would  be  more  contented, 
take  an  interest  in  his  studies,  if  they  humored  him. 
It  did  not  work  so,  however.  The  faculty,  after  a 
good  deal  of  forbearance,  had  to  send  him  off.  He 
was  really  too  much.  They  could  not  have  main- 
tained discipline,  if  they  had  n't." 

"  He  invited  a  number  of  us  up  to  his  place  after- 
wards to  celebrate  his  coining  of  age,"  Lloyd  went 
on,  showing  a  certain  zest  in  these  reminiscences. 
"  When  we  got  there  we  found  him  turned  quite 
serious.  His  trustees  had  talked  to  him,  after  he 
was  expelled,  and  made  some  impression.  They  de- 
scribed to  him  how  his  father  had  built  up  a  great 


THE   PAST    OF   KINGBOLT    OF   KINGBOLTSVILLE.      251 

business,  which  had  come  to  be  known  pretty  much 
the  world  over  ;  how  he  had  been  honored  by  foreign 
governments  ;  how  he  had  been  mayor  and  governor, 
and  might  have  been  ambassador,  if  he  chose.  They 
said  that  the  son  ought  not  to  throw  away,  and  dis- 
credit the  memory  of  all  that  had  gone  before.  They 
said  that  if  he  did  not  now  wish  to  take  a  profession 
he  ought  to  go  into  the  works  and  become  competent 
to  manage  them  himself.  To  this  Kingbolt  finally 
consented.  When  he  had  arrived  at  this  decision, 
nothing  would  do  him  but  to  wear  a  blue  shirt  and 
jack-boots  and  carry  a  tin  dinner-pail,  like  an  ordi- 
nary hand,  and  begin  by  oiling  up  the  machinery. 
He  never  does,  or  at  least  never  begins,  anything  by 
halves.  It  was  in  this  costume  that  he  showed  his 
visitors  through  the  works,  —  fashionable  girls  and 
all,  —  when  they  went  to  the  birthday  celebration. 
The  festivities  lasted  three  days,  quite  on  the  Eng- 
lish plan.  It  was  an  idea  of  his  sisters,  who  had  been 
abroad  a  good  deal.  As  for  his  mother,  she  was  a 
person  who  consented  to  almost  anything.  She  was 
lady-like  and  well-meaning,  but  weak.  One  could 
easily  see  that.  The  fact  is,  Kingbolt  had  no  partic- 
ular bringing  up.  He  was  never  controlled.  I  was 
told  that  his  father — as  long  as  he  lived,  for  he  died 
early  —  treated  everything  the  boy  did  as  a  huge 
joke.  He  used  to  say  that  he  had  not  made  a  suc- 
cess enough  of  -it  in  his  own  case  to  lay  down  rules 
for  the  government  of  others. 

"  ■  Let  him  fight  it  out  on  his  own  account,'  his 
father  would  say.  '  He  must  have  some  good  traits 
from  his  mother,  and  may  be  one  or  two  that  are  not 
so  bad  from  me.  Let  him  fight  it  out !  No  doubt, 
in  the  long  run,  the  good  will  prevail  over  the  bad.' 


252  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

"  So  if  the  boy  got  black  in  the  face  with  temper, 
and  smashed  the  crockery,  they  simply  put  him  in  a 
padded  room.  If  he  kicked  the  governess  with  his 
new  boots  till  she  cried,  they  comforted  her  with 
liberal  presents.  His  mother  took  everything  in  the 
tearful,  prayerful  style,  and  wondered  at  him." 

"  They  allowed  him  to  kick  his  governess  ?  A 
cheerful  beginning,  I  must  say,"  commented  Miss 
Rawson. 

Bainbridge,  who  had  been  about  to  withdraw,  found 
himself  listening  in  a  kind  of  dazed  way  to  this  re- 
view of  his  rival's  career. 

"  Well,  at  his  coming  of  age,"  G.  Lloyd  went  on, 
"  there  were  dancing,  and  illuminations,  and  distri- 
butions of  presents,  and  driving  gayly  through  the 
streets  of  Bridgehaven  in  all  the  conveyances  the 
stables  could  turn  out.  Kingbolt  was  again  '  one  of 
the  boys,'  and  joined  in  the  proceedings  with  a  will. 
If  I  had  been  parent  or  guardian  of  his,  I  should 
have  dreaded  the  effect  of  such  a  break  in  his  newly 
established  routine.  Whether  it  was  in  fact  an  enter- 
ing wedge,  within  the  year  he  tired  of  being  a  horny- 
handed  son  of  toil,  and  came  down  and  joined  us  in 
New  York. 

"  We  had  taken  our  sheepskins  by  that  time,  and  a 
group  of  choice  spirits  was  assembled  in  the  different 
professional  schools.  You  recollect  about  it,  Bain- 
bridge ?  You  were  one  of  us  occasionally,  before  you 
went  into  your  nianufacturing,  orange-planting,  and 
what  not." 

"  Yes,  I  remember,"  said  Bainbridge,  gravely. 

"  Kingbolt  came  down  at  first  on  a  visit,"  pursued 
Lloyd,  "  and  the  boys  urged  him  to  stay." 

"  '  If  I  do,  what  shall  I  do  about  my  trustees  ? '  he 


THE  PAST  OF  KINGBOLT  OF  KINGBOLTSVILLE.   253 

asked  us.  *  Old  Judge  Bryan  is  continually  harping 
at  me  about  the  glories  of  the  past.  He  would  con- 
sider me  hopelessly  lost.' 

"  fc  Hang  your  trustees  ! '  I  recollect  Anthropoid 
Walker  replying.  '  The  old  Judge  will  be  only  too 
glad  not  to  have  anybody  to  overhaul  his  accounts. 
Let  him  alone  to  embezzle  your  property  in  comfort. 
You  've  got  a  soul  above  axle  grease.  Come  into  the 
law  school  with  us  !  Look  at  me  !  I  ascribe  my  fu- 
ture greatness  entirely  to  that  noblest  of  professions, 
the  law.' 

"  Let  me  see  !  Anthropoid  Walker  and  Zeus  Bald- 
win —  we  kept  up  the  old  nicknames  —  were  in  the 
law  school  in  Lafayette  Place.  Sprowle  Onderdonk 
was  another  of  the  legal  aspirants.  He  was  older 
than  the  rest,  and  we  had  not  known  him  so  well  in 
college,  owing  to  his  having  been  in  an  upper  class. 
But  with  his  leisurely  way  of  taking  things  he  had 
arrived  at  this  point  only  at  the  same  time.  He  had 
a  good  mind,  that  man,  and  with  a  greater  pressure 
upon  him  to  use  it,  might  have  done  something  really 
worth  while.  He  still  sticks  to  the  law  in  a  desul- 
tory way,  I  believe,  and  keeps  an  office.  You  recall 
him  as  a  man  of  ability,  do  you  not,  Bainbridge  ?  " 

"  I  recollect  a  sledge-hammer  style  of  argument  he 
had  sometimes  in  the  debates  in  Linonia,"  replied 
Bainbridge.  "  We  used  to  think  he  might  succeed 
in  politics." 

"  I  was  a  Brother  in  Unity,  not  a  Linonian,  my- 
self. —  Our  college  societies,"  —  to  Miss  Rawson,  in 
explanation  of  these  names.  "  De  Longbow  Rowley 
was  studying  medicine.  That  fellow  wTas  always 
telling  the  most  preposterous  yarns,  and  keeps  up 
the   habit   yet.     Whitehead    Finch  was  in  business. 


254  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

His  family  had  got  him  a  place  in  a  broker's  office, 
allowed  him  two  thousand  dollars  a  year  to  keep 
off  the  pangs  of  absolute  starvation,  and  left  him  to 
shift  for  himself.  Gus  Ramsdell  also  professed  a  pur- 
pose of  becoming  a  shining  light  in  commerce.  He 
had  begun  by  entering  the  store  of  Rodman  Harvey, 
at  three  dollars  a  week,  but  found  that  this  interfered 
too  much  with  his  society  engagements,  and  left. 
They  4  did  not  know  how  to  treat  a  gentleman,'  he 
said.  He  had  not  yet  found  another  opening  to  his 
taste,  but  represented  himself  as  in  search  of  one. 
We  used  to  charge  him  with  looking  for  a  place,  and 
hoping  he  wouldn't  get  it.  Sprowle  Onderdonk  used 
to  say  that  Ramsdell  had  told  him,  to  quote  the  exact 
wTords,  — 

"  '  I  am  not  going  to  work  as  long  as  I  have  my 
health' 

"  For  my  part,"  still  went  on  the  narrator,  "  I  was 
young  and  foolish  then.  I  was  in  an  architect's 
office,  paying  the  firm  for  the  privilege  of  learning 
the  business.  They  had  to  catch  me  to  make  me  do 
it,  though.  I  often  went  down  to  the  office  at  two  or 
three  in  the  afternoon,  and  left  at  four.  If  the  prin- 
cipals were  out,  even  this  brief  space  was  spent,  as 
likely  as  not,  in  fencing  with  a  fellow-draughtsman, 
with  the  T-squares. 

"  Well,  this  was  the  general  character  of  the  inter- 
esting circle  to  which  Kingbolt  now  joined  himself. 
He  set  up  handsome  bachelor  apartments,  which  soon 
became  a  rallying  point.  More  than  once,  after  an 
evening  of  lively  adventures  elsewhere,  we  all  spread 
ourselves  out  on  his  furniture,  and  passed  the  night 
there.  He  gave  small  suppers,  at  which  one  of  the 
amus'.ments  was  to  shoot   the  necks  off    the  cham< 


THE   PAST   OF   KINGBOLT    OF   KIXGBOLTSVILLE.       255 

pagne  bottles  instead  of  uncorking  them.  Such 
rackets  as  we  had !  Ah,  yes,  indeed  !  With  little 
English  hats  on  their  heads,  with  sticks  and  eye- 
glasses, their  hands  in  the  pockets  of  their  English 
clothes,  and  quips  and  cranks  innumerable  at  the 
ends  of  their  tongues,  the  group  tore  about  from  one 
pleasure  to  another  incessantly.  I  dare  say  we  were 
a  sort  of  terror.  We  took  boxes  at  the  spectacular 
dramas.  We  knew  where  the  best  beer  was  to  be 
had,  the  best  Welsh  rarebit,  or  anchovy  sandwich. 
We  patronized  the  Tyrolean  warblers  at  the  Bowery 
Garden,  Herman's  on  Fourth  Avenue,  where  leading 
artists  were  to  be  seen,  and  Schwalbach's  on  Four- 
teenth Street,  where  actors  resorted  after  the  play.  I 
remember  how  the  joints  of  beef,  piles  of  oysters,  the 
green  salads,  and  vivid  scarlet  of  the  lobsters,  ar- 
ranged in  ornamental  pyramids  on  Schwalbach's 
counter,  impressed  me  the  first  time  I  saw  them.  We 
were  '  seeing  life  '  ;  that  was  what  we  were  after." 

"  You  describe  to  me  not  only  Kingbolt,  but  a 
whole  state  of  society,"  said  Miss  Rawson.  "  That 
is  more  than  I  expected,  —  but  of  course  you  do  not 
suppose  that  I  approve  of  you." 

"  Oh,  we  reformed.  I,  at  least,  since  I  had  my 
living  to  make.  They  are  all  club  men  now,  those 
fellows,  and  great  swells;  I  have  little  or  nothing  to 
do  with  them,  except  when  I  go  and  bore  one  of 
them,  unblushinglv,  for  his  influence  in  some  build- 
ing contract.  Athletic  sports  were  a  part  of  the  pro- 
gramme. Not  that  we  took  any  great  part  in  them, 
but  it  was  the  thing  to  be  posted,  and  to  be  present 
on  all  eventful  occasions.  The  base-ball  and  cricket 
<.;iiiii^  the  dog  shows,  the  shooting  and  rowing 
matches,  —  those  were  the  important  things  in  life. 


256  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

A  good  running  high  jump  would  draw  the  coterie 
away  from  their  ostensible  occupations,  to  Hoboken, 
for  a  day.  The  long  purses  —  and  Kingbolt's  was 
the  longest  —  attended  religiously  regattas  at  Sara- 
toga, or  base-ball  matches  at  Chicago  or  Baltimore. 
If  the  university  nine  or  boat's  crew  of  our  college 
chanced  to  be  passing  through  town,  or  the  glee  club 
gave  a  concert,  you  may  be  sure  that  a  patriotic  ef- 
fort was  made  to  give  them  as  hilarious  a  time  as 
possible." 

"  And  fashionable  society  ?     I  suppose  you  were 
great  breakers  of  feminine  hearts,  for  instance?" 

44  As  a  rule,  society  was  rather  looked  down  upon. 
Still,  we  condescended  to  an  occasional  party.  We 
trained  around  in  company,  taking  a  sardonic  view  of 
things  and  calling  the  debutantes  '  young  gushers.' 
When  it  was  over  we  bounded  up-stairs,  two  at  a  time, 
drawing  cigarettes  from  our  pockets  as  we  went,  bus- 
tled into  our  ulsters,  got  the  loudest  explosion  out  of 
our  crush  hats  they  were  capable  of,  and  so  —  not  yet 
being  club  men  —  off  to  Delmonico's,  Schwalbach's,  or 
other  of  the  chosen  resorts.  —  I  remember  we  enter- 
tained a  kind  of  reverential  awe  of  the  older  class  of 
club  men  we  saw  heading  the  important  movements' 
in  society  and  on  the  turf.  Some  of  them  were  bald, 
corpulent,  weather-beaten,  and  with  large  whiskers, 
—  the  kind  of  men  I  for  instance  had  been  used  to 
seeing  only  as  officers  of  banks  and  companies,  dea- 
cons perhaps  of  churches.  Occasionally,  one  of  them 
took  his  racing-stable  abroad,  and  contested  all  the 
great  events  of  the  European  turf.  An  existence 
which  could  keep  a  continuous  interest  in  life  for  per- 
sons of  that  age  must  mean  pleasure  indeed." 

44  But  thus  you  do  not  separate  yourself  from  King- 


THE  PAST  OF  KINGBOLT  OF  KIXGBOLTSVILLE.   257 

bolt,"  interrupted  Emily  Rawson.  "  Were  you  all 
exactly  alike  ?  You  do  not  show  how  he  differed 
from  the  rest  of  you." 

M  He  was  more  whimsical,  —  that  is  all.  He  sepa- 
rated himself  from  the  rest  of  us  mainly  by  that.  He 
lets  nothing  stand  in  the  way  of  a  whim.  He  pursues 
it  to  the  bitter  end." 

41  Ah,  indeed  !  "  said  Emily  Rawson. 

And  " Ah,  indeed!"  mentally  echoed  Bainbridge, 
in  a  dull  way.  This  trait  in  Kingbolt  was  the  knell 
of  his  lingering  hopes. 

"  He  ran  out  to  Colorado,  now  and  then,  for  a 
hunt,"  continued  Lloyd.  "  He  was  not  greatly  given 
to  reading,  and  not  a  person  of  a  romantic  fancy,  I 
should  say  ;  and  for  a  time  Europe  seemed  without 
attraction  for  him.  At  length,  however,  he  went 
across  with  Gus  Ramsdell.  He  proposed  only  a  brief 
stay,  but  it  extended  to  several  years,  and  left  his  law 
course  entirely  in  the  lurch.  The  pair  traveled,  at  first, 
rather  on  the  comic  plan,  modeled  themselves  after 
the  personages  in  a  class  of  literature  then  a  good 
deal  in  vogue.  They  were  locked  up,  for  instance,  at 
Cologne,  for  beating  a  commissionaire,  —  I  am  sure 
he  deserved  it.  Ramsdell  came  back,  but  Kingbolt 
remained.  The  dignified  side  of  things  gradually 
took  hold  of  him.  He  picked  up  languages,  and 
titled  acquaintances,  and  began  to  conduct  himself 
en  grand  seigneur.  He  registered  as  Kingbolt  of 
Kingboltsville.  In  those  places  —  comprising  the 
greater  part  of  Europe  —  where  all  the  Americas, 
their  languages  and  peoples,  are  confounded  as  one, 
and  a  corresponding  ignorance  prevails  of  their  social 
system,  he  was  taken  to  be,  in  his  own  country,  the 
chief  of  a  clan,  or  the  lord  of  a  barony  at  lease.     An 

17 


258  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

African  potentate  who  had  bought  machinery  of  the 
Eureka  Tool  Works,  and  conferred  a  decoration  on 
the  young  man's  father  in  old  times,  gave  a  hunt  in 
his  honor.  A  splendidly  caparisoned  steed  led  by 
slaves  was  sent  out  to  meet  him  as  he  approached,  — 
quite  like  the  Arabian  Nights.  He  killed  a  wild 
boar,  the  tusks  of  which  still  ornament  his  rooms, 
with  other  trophies.  At  least  Kingbolt  relates  all 
this.  I  dare  say  it  is  so.  He  was  never  particularly 
given  to  stretching  the  point,  like  Rowley.  ' 

"  Not  particularly,"  assented  Bainbridge,  being  ap- 
pealed to. 

"  He  returned  from  Europe  with  new  airs  and 
graces  and  plenty  of  new  ideas  about  spending 
money.  He  was  elected  now  to  all  the  clubs,  and  in 
close  relations  with  the  older  men  he  had  been  used 
to  revere.  It  was  at  this  time  that  he  distinctly 
went  in  for  a  society  career,  and  set  up  for  a  i  glass 
of  fashion  and  the  mould  of  form,'  in  town  and  coun- 
try. Then  he  went  off  again,  briefly,  on  an  earnest 
tack.  I  doubt  if  it  was  anything  more  than  a  para- 
graph in  a  newspaper  that  set  him  a  going,  —  a  para- 
graph suggesting  to  rich  men  to  do  something  to  im- 
prove the  condition  of  their  tenantry.  He  ran  across 
me  again,  turned  sober  by  this  time,  I  assure  you. 
I  had  my  living  to  get,  and  was  able  to  follow  that 
idle  group  only  about  as  far  as  you  could  throw 
an  elephant  by  the  tail.  Well,  lie  ran  across  me 
again,  as  I  say,  and  took  me  to  Europe  with  him  to 
perfect  plans  for  an  industrial  museum  and  model 
cottages.  I  was  to  have  —  well,  be  promised  every- 
thing ;  and  he  meant  it,  I  dare  say.  B^it  he  proved 
an  insufferable  task-master.  Our  old  intimacy  went 
for  nothing.     We  quarreled  violently,  and  he  turned 


THE  PAST  OF  KINGBOLT  OF  KIXGBOLTSVILLE.   259 

me  adrift;  that  was  the  way  of  it.  It  was  devilish 
awkward  at  first,  I  recollect,  —  out  of  money,  away 
from  home,  and  my  time  and  labors  gone  for  noth- 
ing :  but  now  I  can  look  back  at  it  more  coolly.  No 
doubt  I  was  somewhat  to  blame  myself.  He  had 
fallen  in  before  this  with  a  certain  St.  Hill,  who 
attached  himself  to  him  as  a  parasite,  and  probably 
had  something  to  do  with  inducing  him  to  abandon 
the  philanthropic  project.  He  brought  back  St.  Hill 
instead  of  myself.  That  man  could  give  you  points 
enough  about  Kingbolt,  I  dare  say.  And  that  is  the 
extent  of  my  information." 

The  architect  drew  a  long  breath,  as  if  after  having 
talked  interminably. 

"  Sure  ?  "  queried  Miss  Rawson. 

"  Positive." 

"  Well,  we  are  very  much  obliged  to  vou.  Con- 
cerning his  more  public  career,  I  knew  more  or  less 
already." 

Lloyd  and  Bainbridge  exchanged  some  casual  re- 
marks concerning  an  art  club,  where,  it  seemed,  they 
were  in  the  habit  of  meeting  occasionally,  and  Bain- 
bridge rose  to  go. 

As  he  was  passing  out  he  met  the  Rev.  Edwin 
Swan  coming  in.  This  was  the  assistant  at  one  of 
the  minor  Episcopal  churches,  a  deserving,  quiet, 
plain  person  of  most  respectable  position  naturally, 
who  was  thought  to  be  looking  for  a  wife.  Their 
fair  entertainer  seemed  fluttered  at  the  encounter  in 
her  parlors  of  so  many  desirable  men.  Each  would 
comprehend,  she  hoped,  in  particular  the  recreant 
Bainbridge,  that,  though  she  were  not  in  demand  by 
him.  she  was  by  others. 

"But  I  have  not  told  you  the  reason  of  my  inter- 


260  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

est  in  Kingbolt  of  Kingboltsville,"  she  said  confiden- 
tially, at  the  threshold,  to  the  departing  guest. 

"  No,"  said  Bainbridge. 

"Well,  I  have  seen  him  driving  out  our  friend 
Ottilie  Harvey.  I  hear  also  that  he  paid  her  great 
attention  at  Newport.  I  have  my  informants,  you 
see.  4  Such  things  have  been,  said  Private  James.' 
She  would  be  an  enterprising  little  minx  if  given  but 
half  a  chance.  I  am  sure  of  it.  Do  you  not  think 
so?" 

"  Very  likely,"  said  Bainbridge. 


XVIII. 

AT  THE  EMPIRE  CLUB  AND  AROUND  TOWN. 

One  morning,  at  this  time,  Arthur  Kingbolt  of 
Kingboltsville  awoke  at  nine  o'clock,  and  rang  the 
bell  for  his  body  servant.  Ten  or  eleven  was  his 
more  usual  hour,  and  the  services  of  Greenway,  be- 
sides, were  generally  in  requisition  to  rouse  him  from 
his  heavy  slumbers.  He  had  found  the  well-trained 
Greenway  in  the  employ  of  one  of  the  smaller  Lon- 
don clubs,  and  brought  him  over  for  his  own  service. 

"  Get  to  work  now,  Greenway,"  he  said.  "  I  am 
going  to  get  up." 

The  discreet  Greenway  first  handed  in  the  morn- 
ing draught  of  a  "  brandy  cocktail  "  which  his  master 
was  accustomed  to  demand,  as  best  adapted  to  his  pe- 
culiar constitutional  needs,  then  proceeded  deftly  to 
shave  him,  while  he  still  reclined  under  his  rich  Per- 
sian hangings.  He  next  laid  out  a  velvet  jacket, 
braided  and  faced  with  silk.  While  Kingbolt  ex- 
changed for  this  the  night-gown  of  China  silk  in 
which  he  had  slept,  and  rose,  and  lounged  in  an  easy^ 
chair,  with  a  cigarette  and  a  morning  paper,  the  ser- 
vant brought  the  articles  of  dress  for  the  day's  wear. 
There  might  have  been  seen  a  store  of  clothing,  hats, 
boots,  shoes,  and  walking-sticks,  in  an  adjoining  apart- 
ment, sufficient  to  equip  a  company. 

The  luxury  of  these  chambers  could  hardly  have 
jarred  even  upon  a  feminine  taste*     The  masculine 


262  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

element  was  shown  in  pictures  of  types  of  female 
loveliness  —  photographs  of  actresses  and  the  like  — 
of  a  rather  free  sort,  and  in  weapons,  and  trophies  of 
the  chase.  There  were  the  wild  boar  tusks  from  the 
hunt  with  the  potentate  of  Barbary  ;  there  was  the 
head  of  a  red  deer,  shot,  with  a  Scotch  lord,  in  the 
highlands  ;  the  head  of  a  "  big-horn  "  of  Montana, 
and  another  of  a  fallow  deer  of  the  Adirondacks. 

"  Get  me  a  breakfast  here,  will  you,  Greenway?" 
directed  the  master,  in  a  petulant  tone.  "  It  does  n't 
make  any  difference  what.  I  '11  stand  that  villainous 
club  cooking  no  longer.  No,  on  the  whole,  I  '11  go  to 
Delmonico's.  Don't  forget,"  he  added,  in  a  parting 
direction,  "  to  take  back  that  beastly  driving-coat  to 
Millerick.     What  does  he  take  me  f or  ?  " 

When  in  the  street,  however,  he  changed  his  mind 
again,  and  went  to  the  Empire  Club,  after  all. 
Greenway  thought  he  had  rarely  seen  his  master  in  a 
more  capricious  and  irritable  frame  of  mind  than  at 
present. 

Kingbolt  was  hailed  in  the  lobby  of  the  club  by 
some  men  who  affected  to  take  his  appearance  at  that 
time  of  day  as  a  remarkable  phenomenon. 

"  Turning  over  a  new  leaf,  —  out  to  see  the  sun 
rise,  —  early  dewdrop,  and  that  sort  of  thing,  eh  ?  " 
said  Whitehead  Finch. 

"  I  'm  not  turning  over  anything.  I  suppose  a 
man  has  a  right  to  get  up,  if  he  likes,"  the  new- 
comer rejoined,  not  too  amiably. 

"  Well,  you  can't  keep  the  London  style  going  a 
great  while  here,"  said  Ramsdell.  "  Lord,  I  've  tried 
it !  I  used  to  sleep  till  four  in  the  afternoon,  regu- 
larly. Over  there  in  the  fog,  it  makes  no  difference 
when  you  burn  your  gas  ;  on-*  part  of  the  twenty-four 


AT    THE   EMPIRE   CLUB   AND   AROUND    TOWN.        263 

hours  is  as  good  as  another.  But  here  it  is  a  different 
matter.  If  a  fellow  doesn't  show  himself  in  season, 
the  programme  is  made  up  without  him,  and  he  is 
likely  to  get  left." 

"  Your  friend  St.  Hill  is  posted  again  —  quite  a 
stiff  little  sum,"  said  De  Longbow  Rowley,  nodding 
towards  the  bulletin  board,  where  various  matters  of 
interest  were  officially  brought  to  the  attention  of  the 
club. 

Kingbolt  walked  over  to  it,  and  read  the  notice  of 
the  extent  of  St.  Hill's  arrears.  Such  a  delinquency 
subjected  the  offender  to  embarrassment  of  this  kind, 
and  after  a  certain  time,  if  still  unsatisfied,  to  loss  of 
membership  in  the  club.  On  going  to  his  letter-box, 
he  found  a  note  from  the  same  person  which  proved 
to  be  an  appeal  to  take  down  the  announcement  and 
liquidate  the  writer's  small  indebtedness,  as  "  a  tem- 
porary accommodation,"  for  which  he  would  remain 
forever  grateful. 

"  There  is  getting  to  be  too  much  of  this  sort  of 
thing.  I  am  sick  of  it,"  he  muttered,  stuffing  the 
note  into  his  pocket. 

But  when  the  rest  made  the  bulletin  the  text  for 
an  abusive  discussion  of  St.  Hill,  it  suited  his  perverse 
humor  to  stand  by  the  man.  The  Empire  Club  was 
rather  a  noted  place  for  gossip.  The  characters  of 
both  men  and  women  were  often  handled  there  in  a 
style  hardly  to  have  been  surpassed  by  tea-drinking 
spinsters  of  the  old  school.  This,  however,  rarely 
precluded  the  extending  of  the  usual  pleasant  civili- 
ties to  the  victim,  though  fallen  in  with  but  the  very 
next  moment. 

11  What  sort  of  a  company  has  the  fellow  got  ? 
What  keeps  him  a-going,  any  way  ?  "  inquired  Gus 


264  TEE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

Ramsdell,  who  had  long  since  come  into  property,  by 
inheritance,  which  placed  him  beyond  the  need  of  as- 
pirations, commercial  or  otherwise,  connected  with 
the  problem  of  self-support. 

"  It 's  a  swindle,  as  sure  as  a  gun.  That 's  my 
opinion,"  said  Mr.  Rowley.  "  I  should  not  be  sur- 
prised to  hear  of  his  being  shown  up  and  dropped  out 
of  decent  society,  any  day." 

They  are  not  dropping  people  for  those  things 
now,"  said  the  elderly  Watervliet.  "  The  Texas 
style  is  more  in  vogue.  In  Texas  they  don't  consider 
a  man  out  of  society  till  he  is  hanged." 

Watervliet's  own  means  of  support  were  not  al- 
ways of  the  most  ostensible.  A  friendly  hand,  now 
and  then,  stopped  a  gap  in  his  exchequer.  He  varied 
his  sitting  in  the  club  window  with  an  occasional  long 
voyage  to  the  tropics  in  somebody's  yacht,  in  the  win- 
ter. In  summer,  he  had  been  known  to  admit  dep- 
recatingly,  in  a  rare  moment  of  weakness,  that  his 
livelihood  cost  him  little  more  than  his  railroad  fares. 
He  passed  from  one  hospitable  country  house  to  an- 
other, in  a  continual  round  of  visits. 

"  Look  at  the  way  he  took  in  that  gudgeon  of  a 
Stillsby,"  said  Northfleet,  continuing  on  the  subject 
of  St.  Hill.  "  He  pretended  to  make  a  venture  for 
him  in  stocks,  and  sent  him  word  presently  that  his 
money  was  doubled.  He  did  not  pay  the  money  over, 
though  ;  you  may  be  sure  of  that.  He  advised  now 
that  it  be  put  into  another  deal,  which  promised  even 
better  than  the  first.  Stillsby,  of  course,  was  de- 
lighted and  advanced  more  funds.  The  upshot  was 
that  he  never  got  a  cent.  When  the  sum  was  big 
enough  St.  Hill  gobbled  it.  He  regretted  to  say  that 
an  unfortunate  turn  of  the  market  etc.,  etc.     Still, 


AT    THE   EMPIRE   CLUB    AXD   AROUND    TOWN.  265 

he  felt  that  if  favored  with  a  new  opportunity  he 
could  at  once  redeem  the  previous  losses  and  return 
a  handsome  profit  on  the  whole  investment.  It 's  a 
very  old  dodge,  —  that  is.  I  say,  that  is  what  St. 
Hill  did  to  you,  isn't  it,  Stillsby  ?  "  the  speaker 
called  to  Stillsby,  who  had  just  come  down  the 
stairs. 

"  Yes,  sir,  that 's  what  he  did.  I  put  up —  He, 
he,  I  "  —  Stillsby  stuttered,  in  his  eagerness  to  tell 
the  story. 

"  Bah  I  Wall  Street  is  Wall  Street,"  said  King- 
bolt contemptuously,  setting  foot  in  the  elevator  to  go 
up  to  his  breakfast  in  the  restaurant  above.  "  What 
do  people  expect?  " 

"  Yes,  that  is  so,  too,"  assented  Stillsby,  who  had 
the  habit  of  agreeing  with  whoever  spoke  with  au- 
thority. 

When  Kingbolt  had  breakfasted  he  found  the 
same  men,  with  others,  sitting  in  the  conversation 
room,  by  the  large  windows  giving  upon  the  Avenue. 
A  few  who  were  reading  newspapers  offered  laconic 
remarks,  from  time  to  time,  on  subjects  enlisting 
their  interest. 

"  I  see  there  's  another  duke,  a  great  swell,  coming 
in  by  the  French  steamer,"  said  Northfleet.  "  I  sup- 
pose that  pushing  Mrs.  Poyntz  will  go  to  his  hotel, 
grab  him  by  the  hair  of  the  head,  and  have  him  on 
exhibition  before  he  knows  where  he  is.  Poor  duf- 
fers !     They  can't  help  it  at  first,  I  suppose." 

"  I  see  old  Elphinstone  Swan  has  dropped  off," 
said  Ramsdell.  "  That  must  be  what  the  club's  flag 
is  half-masted  for  to-day." 

"  I  thought  that  old  buffer  was  dead  ages  ago," 
commented  De  Longbow  Rowley,  yawning. 


266  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

"Not  at  all;  far  from  it,"  returned  Finch.  "I  have 
had  my  eye  on  his  prospective  widow.  Madeline 
Scarrett  has  made  rather  a  good  speculation  of  it. 
Here  she  is,  about  as  young  and  handsome  as  ever, 
with  all  the  old  man's  money  to  do  as  she  likes 
with." 

After  this,  silence  for  a  while. 

Mr.  Watervliet  broke  it  with  a  low  whistle,  ex 
pressive  of  keen  emotion.  "  I  see  Canterbury  Boy  is 
gone,"  he  said. 

"  What  !  —  No  !  —  It  can't  be  !  —  When  ?  — 
Where  ?  —  How  did  it  happen  ?  " 

There  was  a  general  letting  fall  of  papers,  and  a 
rapt  manifestation  of  concern. 

"At  the  Fashion  Course,  Long  Island,  yesterday, 
at  five  in  the  afternoon,"  read  out  Watervliet,  in  a 
melancholy  tone.  "  Taken  with  bleeding  of  the  lungs 
at  three  o'clock,  and  expired  at  five.  Only  in  the 
seventh  year  of  his  age.  By  Jove,  that 's  hard  !  it 's 
hard." 

This  striking  instance  of  the  brevity  of  life,  and 
the  vanity  of  all  things  mortal,  cast  a  deep  tempo- 
rary gloom  over  the  company.  Such  members  of  it 
as  had  won  money  in  times  past  on  Canterbury  Boy 
were  moved  almost  to  tears ;  and  even  those  who  had 
lost  ignored  the  fact  in  the  sudden  shock  of  his  tak 
ing  olf.  Anecdotes  of  his  past  began  to  be  exchanged 
then  others  of  a  kindred  sort,  all  pervaded  by  the 
same  pensive  air.  Finch  recalled  pathetically  a  horse- 
owner  who  decked  a  pet  mare,  after  her  victories. 
with  collar  and  pendants  of  diamonds.  Rowley  re- 
lated the  case  of  a  veteran  jockey  who  had  desired  to 
be  buried  on  the  race-track  at  the  three-quarter  pole, 
in  order  to  hear  the  inspiring  rattle  of  the  hoofa 
above  his  head. 


AT    THE    EMPIRE   CLUB   AND    AROUND    TOWN.         267 

This  gloom  lifted  by  degrees.  Upon  some  chance 
reference,  the  prospects  of  Rodman  Harvey  in  the 
coming  election  were  spoken  of.  Harvey  had  dis- 
tanced General  Burlington  in  the  convention,  and 
secured  the  regular  nomination  of  his  party,  and 
banners,  duly  weighted  and  pierced,  and  adorned 
with  execrable  portraits  of  himself  in  the  usual  way, 
had  long  been  hanging  for  him  across  the  streets. 
His  rival  at  the  polls  was  to  be  Michael  Brannagan, 
of  Tammany  Hall.  Bets  for  and  against  Harvey 
were  being  freely  offered,  when  Sprowle  Onderdonk 
entered. 

"  Hang  your  bets  !  "  he  cried.  "  Stir  yourselves 
for  once,  and  come  out  and  vote  for  him  !  He  is  the 
Sprowle  candidate,  you  know.  We  want  him  elected. 
His  daughter  marries  into  the  family.     See  ?  " 

Kingbolt  got  up  at  this,  and  moved  restlessly  about 
the  floor. 

"  Well,  count  on  me  for  one,"  returned  Northfleet. 
"  By  the  vay,  that 's  another  pretty  girl  they  have 
up  there  at  the  Harveys',  —  the  one  they  rather  keep 
in  the  background,  the  cousin  —  what's  her  name? 
Ottilie.  You  get  a  glimpse  of  her  now  and  then,  you 
know.     What  is  she  like  ?  " 

"  Kingbolt  can  give  you  the  points.  Ask  him  ! 
They  were  as  thick  as  Siamese  twins  last  summer, 
—  sly  dog  !  "  replied  Onderdonk. 

"What  is  she  like,  Kingbolt  old  boy,  —  the  de- 
mure Miss  Harvey  number  two,  the  gem  of  purest 
ray  serene,  the  dark,  unfathomed  caves  of  ocean, 
etc.  ?  "  pursued  the  inquirer. 

"  On  the  intellectual  lay,  T  believe.  Wants  to  be 
quoted  to,  and  that  sort  of  thing.  Don't  trouble  your- 
self to  pitch  in ;  you  '11  never  get  ahead." 


268  THE    HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

The  not  over-bright  Stillsby,  on  hearing  this,  crept 
up  to  the  library,  and  was  soon  buried  deep  in  a  lit- 
erature of  large  volumes  of  poetical  quotations. 

Kingbolt,  leaving  the  club,  passed  Sprowle  with  a 
surly  "  How  are  you?  "  treatment  at  which  that  per- 
son appeared  surprised,  having  been  accustomed  to  a 
much  more  friendly  manner  of  late. 

Gus  Ramsdell  came  out  into  the  hall  after  him,  to 
say,  "  Don't  forget  the  Capricorn  dinner  to-night !  " 
Then,  u  Whither  away  ?  I  '11  join  you.  What  do 
you  say  to  a  game  at  the  Racquet  Club?  Or  will 
you  put  on  the  gloves  a  while?  I  spent  most  of 
yesterday  over  the  ticker,  watching  a  little  turn  I  am 
making  in  Wall  Street,  and  to-day  I  want  exercise." 

11 1  have  got  to  go  and  see  my  tailor,"  said  King- 
bolt. 

"  Who,  Millerick?  By  the  way,  so  have  I.  Per- 
haps after  that  you  will  come  up  town  with  me  to 
a  stable.  Rickardson,  with  whom  I  used  to  have  deal- 
ings, has  opened  a  new  place,  and  I  havfj  promised 
him  to  drop  in.  I  am  on  the  lookout,  in  a  general 
way,  for  a  new  off -wheeler  for  my  four-in-hand.  I 
think  I  ought  to  have  something  rather  better  in  that 
place.  The  chestnut  is  n't  quite  what  he  should  be  of 
late." 

When  the  pair  entered  Millerick's  place, —  one  of 
the  select  shops  on  the  Avenue,  ornamented  both 
without  and  within  in  the  new  style  of  decoration, 
—  the  fashionable  tailor  came  forward  to  meet  them, 
affably  rubbing  his  hands.  He  was  a  tall,  spare  man, 
with  large  side- whiskers.  He  wore  a  long  frock  coat, 
of  a  spotless,  technical  sort  of  elegance.  Kingbolt 
raised  his  voice  in  complaint  almost  from  the  door. 

"  I  have  come  to  overhaul    you  about   that  driv- 


AT    THE   EMPIRE  CLUB  AND   AROUND    TOWN.         269 

ing-coat.  Don't  you  know  I  could  n't  show  myself 
in  a  thing  like  that  ?  Where  is  it  ?  Yes,  now, 
here !  Could  n't  any  human  being  understand  that  I 
"would  n't  be  seen  with  such  shoulders  on  me  as  those  ? 
You  have  Eastlaked  your  place  all  over,  you  know, 
Millerick,  with  your  pictures,  your  gilding,  and  stiff- 
jointed  traps ;  but  you  can't  Eastlake  me.  I  won't 
have  it.  Well,  it 's  of  no  use ;  I  shall  have  to  get  my 
things  over  from  London,  again,  as  before." 

Millerick  met  this  attack  with  an  excellent  grace. 
"  You  are  perfectly  right,  Mr.  Kingbolt,"  he  said, 
tossing  the  garment  aside,  with  a  large  air.  "  It  is  not 
a  proper  coat  for  you.  The  fact  is,  we  were  chang- 
ing cutters.  But  you  shall  have  another  right  away. 
You  will  naturally  want  it  for  Mr.  Onderdonk's 
garden  party,  the  day  after  to-morrow.  It  will  be 
quick  work,  but  it  shall  be  ready,  and  this  time  with- 
out fault,  I  guarantee." 

"  Oh,  well,  Millerick,  if  you  are  going  to  take  it 
that  way,"  said  the  young  Croesus,  not  to  be  outdone 
in  magnanimity,  —  and  it  is  desirable,  after  all,  to 
stand  well  with  one's  tailor,  —  "  you  put  it  in  the 
bill,  all  the  same !  I  suppose  it  only  wants  a  touch 
here  and  there.  Mistakes  will  happen,  you  know.  At 
any  rate,  let  me  have  some  kind  of  a  coat  by  to-mor- 
row night.     Do  you  understand?  " 

"  Millerick  is  the  only  man  in  town  who  will  do 
that,"  he  said,  somewhat  mollified  by  this  exhibition 
of  his  power,  as  he  departed  with  his  companion. 

"  He  won't  do  it  for  me,"  said  Ramsdell.  "  He 
would  see  me  in  Jericho  first.  How  do  you  manage 
it?" 

Ramsdell's  acquaintance  Rickardson  was  found  in 
a  large,  new  brick  stable,  presiding  over  an  auction 


270  THE  HOUSE   OF  A  MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

of  horses.  He  was  posted  up  at  a  little  desk  at  one 
side,  above  a  track  on  which  the  paces  of  the  animals 
wrere  shown  off.  Spectators,  for  the  most  part  livery- 
stable  keepers  and  others  connected  with  the  equine 
interest  in  a  small  way,  crowded  thickly  on  the  track, 
with  catalogues  in  their  hands.  They  made  way  re- 
luctantly as  each  horse  was  sped  around,  and  filled  in 
immediately  after,  as  if  such  a  thing  as  danger  to 
life  and  limb  from  iron-shod  hoofs  had  never  been 
heard  of. 

"  Anything  in  our  line,  Rick  ?  "  called  Ramsdell 
tip  to  the  auctioneer  where  he  stood  at  his  desk. 

"  I  should  n't  wonder  if  the  next  lot  but  one  would 
be  worth  your  while  a  lookin'  at,  Mr.  Ramsdell,"  re- 
plied Rickardson. 

The  "  lot "  just  then  before  the  house  was  quickly 
disposed  of.  The  next  was  brought  out  and  run 
around  the  ring  by  a  stable-boy.  The  onlookers  scat- 
tered to  escape  maiming  for  life,  and  closed  up  im- 
perturbably,  as  before.  This  lot  was  a  young  filly  of 
excellent  stock,  but  marred  by  some  blemish,  which 
allowed  her  to  go  for  a  song. 

"  She  's  a  young  un,  and  a  good  un  !  "  cried  the 
auctioneer.  "  Look  wot  you  're  a  gittin'.  This  mag- 
nificent two-year-old  filly  at  seventy  dollars'  bid  ! " 

The  inexperienced  filly  tossed  up  her  head  against 
the  restraining  halter,  and  stared  in  a  wild-eyed  way 
at  the  crowd. 

"  This  here  magnificent  filly  at  seventy  dollars' 
bid  !  Eighty,  do  I  hear  ?  At  eighty  dollars  !  Eighty  ! 
Eighty  dollars  !  Last  call !  At  eighty  dollars  !  — 
Sanders,"  with  a  sudden  fall  in  his  voice. 

The  "  next  lot  but  one  "  now  followed,  the  stable- 
boy  this  time  on  his  back.     This  candidate  for  favor 


AT    THE   EMPIRE   CLUB   AND   AROUND    TOWN.  271 

was  described  in  the  printed  catalogues  as  "  the  chest- 
nut gelding  Rob  Roy,  coming  seven  years  old  next 
March  :  greatly  admired  at  Long  Branch  last  season  ; 
the  property  of  a  gentleman  going  to  Europe,  and 
got  to  be  sold  at  any  sacrifice." 

Kingbolt  gave  a  start  at  his  appearance,  and  began 
to  study  his  points  with  keen  attention. 

"  Ah  —  ha  —  a  !  "  cried  Rickardson  with  a  gusto. 
"  Here  's  the  stock  you  're  all  a-waitin'  for.  Splendid, 
fine,  high  knee  action.  Beautiful  combined  saddler 
and  driver.     Send  him  along,  there  !  " 

The  stable-boy  struck  the  animal  with  his  whip, 
and  rode  down  the  crowd,  which  escaped  annihilation 
by  another  in  the  usual  series  of  miracles. 

"  There  he  is,  —  all  in  a  nutshell !  "  continued  the 
sanguine  auctioneer.  "  Let  'em  see  him  walk  !  There's 
a  beauty  !  Game,  beautiful-gaited,  without  doubt  the 
most  beautiful-styled  young  horse  in  New  York  !  — 
best-styled  and  most  promising  young  horse  in  North 
America  to-day  !  " 

But  before  any  offer  could  be  made  for  all  these 
attractions,  Kingbolt,  who  had  scrutinized  every  mo- 
tion of  the  so-called  Rob  Roy  with  a  painful  intent- 
ness,  pressed  forward  to  the  auctioneer's  desk,  and 
throwing  up  one  hand,  cried  out  excitedly,  "  You 
can't  sell  that  horse !  There  is  no  Rob  Roy  about 
him.  He  's  my  horse  Jim.  You  just  wait  till  you 
hear  from  me  !     Do  you  understand  ?  " 

To  Ramsdell,  who  in  much  astonishment  had  en- 
deavored to  follow  him,  he  said,  "  That  's  Jim,  as 
sure  as  we  are  alive !  I  let  St.  Hill  have  him  to  keep 
for  the  summer,  and  here  he  is  selling  him  out  on 
me.  He  has  changed  him,  but  I  would  know  the 
horse  in  a  million." 


272  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

Rickardson  was  disposed  at  first  to  put  down  this 
unseemly  interruption.  "  Beauty  !  "  he  continued  to 
the  audience,  by  way  of  keeping  the  sale  still  in  mo- 
tion, while  the  pros  and  cons  were  being  discussed. 

Influenced,  however,  by  the  representations  of  Mr. 
Ramsdell,  he  withdrew  the  chestnut  gelding  Rob  Roy 
from  auction.  He  explained  to  the  public  that  a 
mistake  had  arisen  among  gentlemen,  which  would 
no  doubt  be  settled  "  fair  and  satisfactory"  to  all  con- 
cerned. 

"  Was  there  ever  a  more  stupendous  piece  of 
cheek  ?  "  said  Kingbolt,  in  a  towering  rage.  "  St.  Hill 
told  me  that  the  horse  had  gone  a  trifle  lame,  and 
been  left  at  pasture.  He  would  have  told  me  after  a 
while,  I  suppose,  that  he  was  dead,  and  I  should  have 
taken  his  word  for  it.  And  to  think  of  what  I  have 
done  for  that  man  !  Well,  this  ends  it.  By  the  way, 
oblige  me,  will  you,  Ramsdell,  by  not  saying  any- 
thing to  the  other  fellows,  just  now  !  I  was  rather 
crowded  into  defending  him  this  morning." 

Kingbolt  was  actively  on  the  lookout  for  his  knav- 
ish protege  for  the  rest  of  the  day.  Up  to  the  hour 
of  the  Capricorn  dinner,  at  seven  o'clock,  however,  he 
had  not  fallen  in  with  him. 

The  culinary  department  of  the  Empire  Club  was 
enlisted  to  do  its  best  for  these  little  Capricorn  din- 
ners. The  terrapin  was  to-day,  accordingly,  of  a 
flavor  not  to  have  been  surpassed  out  of  Maryland  ; 
the  canvas-back  done  to  a  turn.  The  Chateau  Latour 
was  comfortably  warm,  the  Steinberg  Cabinet  iced  to 
the  finest  touch  of  perfection.  The  dishes  called  out 
considerable  discussion  of  a  gastronomical  order.  It 
was  good  form  to  be  to  a  certain  extent  gourmet.  De 
Longbow  Rowley  laid  down  the  axiom  — 


AT    THE   EMPIRE   CLUB    AND   ABOUND    TOWN.         273 

"  You  can  tell  who  a  man  is  better  by  his  style  of 
ordering  a  dinner  than  in  any  other  way." 

Anthropoid  Walker,  who  had  taken  to  politics, 
and  become  a  member  of  the  legislature,  had  aban- 
doned on  that  account  but  few  of  the  attributes  of 
swelldom.  His  accomplishments  as  a  good  fellow, 
also,  seemed  to  have  stood  him  in  good  stead,  in  his 
new  career.  He  described  a  dinner  he  had  given, 
from  motives  of  policy,  to  his  brother  legislators  at 
Albany.  He  boasted  also  of  having  been  able  to 
distinguish  from  one  another,  by  the  taste  alone, 
seven  different  kinds  of  wine  of  a  kindred  sort,  with 
his  eyes  blindfolded. 

"  We  have  seen  you  when  you  could  n't  tell  cham- 
pagne from  water,  and  you  know  it,"  said  Sprowle 
Onderdonk. 

Walker  admitted  this,  but  claimed  that  the  ex- 
periment referred  to  was  made  at  an  earlier  stage  in 
the  evening. 

The  ages  at  which  various  wines  are  at  their  best, 
and  phenomena  attending  their  decline,  were  touched 
upon. 

De  Longbow  Rowley  declared  that  he  had  seen 
port  so  old  that  it  had  turned  snow-white.  He  forgot 
precisely  where  or  when,  but  would  swear  to  the  fact, 
though  the  rest  pooh-poohed  it. 

"  All  I  know  is,"  said  Zeus  Baldwin,  who  had 
abandoned  the  law,  and  was  now  a  doctor  of  medi- 
cine, "that  they  sell  you,  at  one  of  the  German  cities, 
a  wine  which  they  say  dates  back  to  the  year  1600  or 
so.  It  costs  three  or  four  dollars  a  thimbleful.  It 
has  become  a  mere  thick  syrup." 

"  Oh,  they  fill  it  up,  you  know,"  objected  North- 
fleet. 


274  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

"  Not  at  all ! "  said  Sprowle  Onderdonk.  "  It 
would  n't  be  so  beastly  if  they  did." 

Society  scandals,  sporting  matters,  and  narratives 
of  personal  adventure  followed.  De  Longbow  Row- 
ley was  at  the  front,  in  accordance  with  his  reputa- 
tion, with  the  most  marvelous  experience.  It  had 
been  met  with,  he  said,  in  his  second-but-one-be- 
fore-the-last  expedition  in  the  wilds  of  Crim  Tartary. 

Whitehead  Finch  thought  good  to  parody  this,  to 
the  delight  of  the  company,  with  an  egregious  inven- 
tion of  prowess  and  desperate  doings  on  a  Mississippi 
steamboat. 

"  I  was  the  only  peaceable  person  on  board,"  he 
said,  "  and  beset  by  a  gang  of  bullies  and  cut-throats. 
Alone  and  unarmed  against  such  numbers,  what 
could  I  do  ?  The  captain  and  crew  were  in  league 
with  them,  also.  It  was  as  much  as  my  life  was  worth 
even  to  show  resentment.  But  they  little  knew  the 
sleeping  lion  they  were  arousing.  They  crowded  the 
mourner  too  far.  Unable  at  last  to  control  myself,  I 
rushed  to  a  red-hot  stove  in  the  cabin,  and  bit  a  piece 
out  of  it,  just  to  show  what  I  could  do.  For  an  in- 
stant those  burly  ruffians  stood  paralyzed.  Before 
they  could  recover  I  had  flown  wildly  to  the  deck  and 
leaped  over  the  bow.  I  took  the  precaution  to  spring 
as  far  out  as  possible.  It  must  have  been  some  two 
hundred  feet.  The  desperadoes  thought  I  had  sui- 
cided, and  I  could  hear  their  shouts  of  demoniac  glee 
rending  the  air  behind  me.  But  far  from  it.  I 
calmly  waited  till  that  ill-fated  boat  came  by,  and 
seized  her  cut-water  in  my  teeth,  —  our  family  are 
known,  I  may  say,  for  their  excellent  teeth.  With  a 
few  ferocious  yanks  I  tore  the  whole  front  out  of  her, 
and  she  went  to  the  bottom  like  a  shot.     Not  a  soul 


AT  THE  EMPIRE  CLUB  AND  AROUND  TOWN.    275 

but  myself  was  left  to  tell  the  tale.  I  rarely  mention 
it.  I,  sometimes,  almost  regret  having  used  such  ex- 
treme severity.  Still,  in  a  pinch  like  that,  a  man 
cannot  always  be  expected  to  act  with  the  coolness 
that  might  be  most  judicious." 

Rowley  was  accustomed  through  long  practice  to 
take  rebuffs  of  this  kind  with  much  good-nature. 

"  I  wonder  if  this  new  French  duke  will  be  want- 
ing to  marry  an  American  girl,  like  the  rest,"  he 
asked,  branching  out  in  a  new  direction. 

"  American  girls  have  got  to  marry  somebody," 
said  Gus  Ramsdell,  "  since  they  can't  have  us." 

"  Why  don't  we  go  over  and  take  their  titled 
women  in  return  ?  "  inquired  Northfleet.  "  Come  !  I 
have  a  notion  to  go  and  propose  to  a  Lady  Georgi- 
ana  or  Hon.  Miss  Percy  something  or  other,  for  a 
change." 

"  By  the  way,  speaking  of  marriages,"  said  Sprowle 
Onderdonk,  "  I  may  as  well  give  you  a  bit  of  news. 
The  day  for  the  wedding  of  my  cousin  Sprowle  with 
Miss  Harvey  has  been  set,  and  the  cards  are  ordered. 
As  I  shall  not  have  another  chance  of  the  same  sort, 
I  intend  to  call  my  garden  party  of  Thursday  partly 
a  celebration  in  their  honor.  I  have  asked  Dr.  Wy- 
burd  to  add  a  few  lines  of  an  appropriate  hymeneal 
sort  to  his  poem.  You  must  all  come  up  in  your 
drags,  and  give  the  occasion  as  distinguished  a  look 
as  possible." 

Kingbolt  who  had  shown  no  great  interest  in  the 
gayeties  of  the  feast,  up  to  this  point,  lost  now  even 
the  little  he  possessed.  His  lack  of  appetite  was  so 
glaring  as  to  be  openly  commented  on  by  the  others. 

"Has  Dr.  Zeus  Baldwin  been  talking  to  you, 
Kingbolt?  "  cried  Northfleet.     "  Your  theory,  doctor, 


276  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

I  believe,  requires  that  nothing  be  taken  into  the 
stomach  for  twenty-four  hours  before  going  to  bed." 

"  Forty-eight,"  promptly  replied  Dr.  Zeus  Bald- 
win. 

The  violent  indignation  Kingbolt  had  proposed  to 
visit  upon  St.  Hill  had  in  a  measure  evaporated  be- 
fore he  finally  met  with  him,  later  the  same  night. 
The  offense  had  become  of  a  lesser  consequence,  in 
the  new  stir  of  emotion  aroused  by  the  announce- 
ment of  Angelica's  wedding-day.  The  time  fixed, 
and  near  at  hand,  for  her  final  loss  ?  As  long  as  this 
was  not  actually  complete  he  must  always  have  en- 
tertained some  lingering,  unreasonable  hope. 

St.  Hill  was  lounging  in  the  reading-room,  with  for 
him  a  downcast  air,  when  Kingbolt  came  out  from 
the  Capricorn  dinner;  and  this  Lucifer-like  spirit 
then  rather  attracted  than  repelled  him.  Something 
irregular  and  desperate  was  most  in  consonance  with 
his  own  mood. 

The  protege  was  at  first  startled  and  confused  at 
being  suddenly  taxed  with  his  fraud.  He  pleaded 
embarrassment  in  business,  losses  and  delays  in  the 
collection  of  his  debts.  Then,  growing  bolder,  on 
finding  that  the  reproaches  addressed  him  were  after 
all  but  of  a  half-hearted  sort,  he  held  that  the  at- 
tempt to  sell  the  horse  must  have  been  some  piece  of 
stupidity  on  Rickardson's  part,  and  had  not  been  done 
by  his,  St.  Hill's,  order. 

"  How  can  a  man  half  tell  what  he  is  doing,  in 
such  a  fix?"  he  said.  "Things  like  that  staring 
him  in  the  face,  for  instance  !  "  He  pointed  to  the 
bulletin  board.  "  I  can't  even  decently  show  m}Tself 
here  except  at  this  time  of  night.  I  was  in  hopes  you 
would  have  taken  that  down." 


AT  THE  EMPIRE  CLUB  AND  AROUND  TOWN.    277 

He  spoke  in  a  melancholy  way,  more  in  sorrow 
than  in  anger,  at  the  neglect  of  a  friend,  which 
touched  him  in  a  very  tender  place. 

"  You  are  alivays  in  a  fix,  man,  and  I  am  sick  and 
tired  of  it !  "  cried  Kingbolt.  "  Why  don't  you  econo- 
mize ?  Why  don't  you  do  something  for  yourself*? 
You  have  the  best  of  everything.  You  eat  better 
dinners  and  wear  better  clothes  than  anybody  else. 
You  look  as  if  you  were  worth  about  forty  millions." 

"  I  have  to,  old  fellow,"  argued  St.  Hill.  "  When 
a  man  is  down  on  his  luck,  that  is  the  time  he  has 
to  look  his  best.  If  he  is  really  prosperous,  it  doesn't 
make  much  difference.  Besides,  you  cut  off  one 
promising  source  of  revenue  I  had.  You  recollect 
how  you  prevented  my  giving  Rodman  Harvey  a 
twist." 

"  Twist  the  whole  lot  of  them  now,  if  you  like,  and 
be  hanged  to  them  !  " 

St.  Hill  did  not  disclose  the  fact  that  he  had  already 
made  this  attempt  and  failed.  He  was  astonished 
anew,  however,  at  finding  his  patron's  infatuation 
over,  just  as  he  had  begun  to  act  upon  the  belief  that 
it  was  confirmed,  and  this  source  of  profit  lost  to  him 
for  good.  He  had  sold  the  horse  in  truth  with  the 
purpose  of  reaping  all  the  benefit  possible  from  the 
last  stages  of  this  connection.  He  cursed  his  folly 
for  having  done  so  ;  but  Kingbolt's  present  demeanor 
encouraged  him  to  hope  that  he  might  reinstate  him- 
self in  favor,  in  spite  of  it. 

Kingbolt  was  for  a  night  of  wild  dissipation,  and 
the  parasite  readily  fell  in  with  his  humor.  They 
joined  to  themselves  finally  a  couple  of  kindred 
spirits,  met  with  among  resorts  the  bare  existence 
of  which  —  important  as  is  the  part  they  often  play 


278  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

in  the  lives  of  ornaments  of  polite  society  —  it  is  the 
custom  of  society  to  ignore. 

The  quartette  repaired  to  a  gaming  establishment, 
provided  with  every  convenience  and  luxury  and  very 
discreetly  kept.  Before  daylight  the  heir  of  the  Eu- 
reka Tool  Works  of  Kingboltsville  had  squandered  a 
sum  which  increased  his  reputation  for  prodigality  even 
with  those  to  whom  large  figures  were  no  novelty. 

He  awoke  in  his  apartment  that  day,  not  at  nine  in 
the  morning,  but  four  in  the  afternoon.  There  came 
to  him  almost  at  once,  the  unwelcome  reminder  of  an 
engagement  he  had  made  to  drive  a  coach-load  of 
friends  to  Sprowle  Onderdonk's  garden  party  on  the 
morrow.  He  devoted  some  reflection  to  the  best 
means  of  getting  out  of  it,  but  none  occurred  to  him 
as  very  feasible. 

"  No,"  he  decided  finally.  "  I  will  appear  before 
Angelica  at  the  fete,  given  to  celebrate  her  coming 
nuptials  though  it  be,  with  a  proud  and  contemptu- 
ous demeanor.  It  shall  be  made  plain  to  her  that 
she  is  by  no  means  the  cause  of  agitation  in  my 
breast  she  may  choose  to  imagine." 


xrx. 

A  GARDEN  PARTY  ON  THE  HUDSON,  AND  ITS  SEQUEL. 

Whatever  scruples  or  misgivings  Ottilie  Harvey 
may  have  had  in  taking  her  seat  on  Mr.  Kingbolt's 
coach,  on  the  day  set  for  Sprowle  Onderdonk's  gar- 
den party,  they  were  dispelled,  for  the  time  being  at 
least,  by  the  novel  pleasure  of  the  ride. 

The  eyes  of  all  pedestrians  turned  admiringly  to- 
wards the  imposing  vehicle,  as  it  rolled  up  the  Ave- 
nue. The  fresh-faced  young  English  guard  stood  up 
in  his  place,  in  the  bold  attitude  of  one  of  the  angels 
on  the  Church  of  the  Heavenly  Rest,  and  woke  the 
echoes  with  his  horn. 

Ottilie  thought  the  great  city  more  delightful  than 
ever.  It  was  bathed  at  this  season  in  an  atmosphere 
of  liquid  amber.  The  scarlet  and  yellow  leaves  had 
begun  to  drift  idly  down  in  the  squares  from  the  rich 
masses  of  foliage  to  which  they  belonged.  The  pretty 
women,  back  from  the  country,  promenaded  in  dresses 
of  darker  and  warmer  stuffs,  premonitory  of  the  com- 
ing winter.  Strangers  crowded  into  town,  and  the 
streets  were  filled  to  their  utmost.  If  the  bronze 
Washington  at  Union  Square  indeed  supervise  the 
cohorts  debouching  before  him  he  had  need  of  all  his 
strategy  now.  Along  Fourteenth  and  Twenty-third 
streets,  small  dealers  had  spread  out  their  merchan- 
dise of  blue  china,  oriental  fans  and  boxes  on  the  side- 
walk itself.     On  some  of  these  days  there  were  pa- 


280  THE   HOUSE    OF   A    MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

rades  of  militia  regiments,  and  the  young  girl  looked 
out  of  her  window  upon  swaying  bayonets  as  far  as 
the  eye  could  reach,  as  if  the  surface  itself  were  in 
motion.  At  evening  the  profiles  down  all  the  western 
cross-streets  were  thrown  out  black  against  skies  of 
smoky  orange  and  crimson,  —  full  chords  of  the  color- 
harmonies  of  which  the  falling  leaves  were  but  wan- 
dering notes. 

"  If  Europe  can  be  brighter,  more  picturesque  than 
all  this,"  said  Ottilie,  "  it  must  be  lovely  indeed." 

She  exchanged  now  but  little  talk,  and  that  of  a 
conventional  kind,  with  the  persons  about  her.  Her 
acquaintance  with  most  of  them  was  but  of  a  formal 
sort,  and  Kingbolt  was  engrossed  with  his  horses. 

A  number  of  the  drags  forming  a  junction  consti- 
tuted a  small  procession.  A  somewhat  circuitous 
route  was  chosen,  that  the  rendezvous  might  not  be 
reached  too  soon.  They  passed  through  the  copses 
of  Central  Park,  then  tlie  transitional  region  above, 
which  was  neither  city  nor  country.  There  were 
bowlders,  shanties,  and  goats  ;  isolated  blocks  of  new 
houses,  like  sections  of  plum-cake  sliced  sharply  off  ; 
and  paved  and  sidewalked  streets,  forming  causeways 
across  low  grounds,  utilized  by  thrifty  Germans  for 
market  gardens.  The  Elevated  Railroad,  that  spi- 
der's-web  trestle  with  little  stations  high  in  the  air, 
like  habitations  of  lake-dwellers,  or  chalets  from  the 
land  of  dreams,  which  now  traverses  the  region,  was 
still  in  the  future.  The  parallelograms  of  crops  in  the 
market  gardens,  fresh  yet  as  in  early  spring,  were 
thrown  down  beside  one  another,  like  a  series  of  rugs 
in  the  royal  Ottoman  greens. 

Farther  on,  the  expedition  threaded  the  embower- 
ing lanes  of  an  area  of  handsome  villas.     Some  were 


A  GARDEN  PARTY  ON  THE  HUDSON,  AND  ITS  SEQUEL.    281 

of  stone,  ivy-clad,  and  all  shaded  with  fine  trees.  Now 
and  then  a  policeman  of  the  mounted  force  was  en- 
countered slowly  pacing  his  charger,  or  trying  the 
fastenings  of  a  lodge  gate,  to  see  that  all  was  well. 
In  the  freedom  of  these  secluded  places  the  gayer 
spirits  began  to  give  free  rein  to  their  several  de- 
vices. Baron  Au  instructed  Daisy  Goldstone  in  the 
approved  method  of  winding  a  coaching-horn.  Ada 
Trull  drew  off  her  long  mousquetaire  gloves,  and 
essayed  an  accomplishment,  which  she  fancied  she 
possessed,  of  producing  shrill  whistles  through  her 
joined  hands. 

In  fine  the  merry-makers  turned  back  a  little,  and 
came  down  to  the  Sprowle  manor,  on  the  Hudson,  in 
the  last  day  of  its  existence.  It  was  garlanded  as  if 
for  the  sacrifice.  The  tall  columns  of  the  portico,  in 
the  old-fashioned  classic  style,  were  hung  with  wreaths 
and  festoons.  Large  bunches  of  flowers  were  set  out 
in  the  old-fashioned  wainscoted  rooms,  deprived  now 
of  the  greater  part  of  their  furniture,  and  swept  and 
garnished  for  dancing.  On  the  morrow,  at  daylight, 
the  minions  of  improvement  would  begin  to  throw 
down  the  shingles  with  a  clatter  from  the  roof  and 
tear  the  sheathing  from  the  stout  old  frame. 

The  coaches  were  unlimbered  and  let  stand  upon 
the  lawn,  where  their  canary,  blue,  and  scarlet  spark- 
led as  vivid  spots  of  color  throughout  the  afternoon. 
Luncheon  was  to  be  served  under  a  tent  at  two 
o'clock,  and  this  followed  by  Dr.  Wyburd's  poem. 
Archery  and  lawn-tennis  were  provided  for  such  as 
cared  for  these  sports.  Others  walked  in  a  neglected 
old  garden,  full  of  box,  yew-trees,  hollyhocks,  and 
dahlias,  or  strolled  away  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
grounds. 


282  THE  HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

Baron  Au  organized  a  round  game,  rather  worry- 
ing people  into  it,  on  the  plea  of  a  chill  in  the  air. 
He  had  seen  it  given  with  success,  he  said,  at  lake 
parties  at  Saratoga,  and  elsewhere,  and  the  Italian 
and  Turkish  ministers  had  taken  part  in  it,  which 
proved  that  it  must  be  dignified  enough  for  anybody. 

Kingbolt  simulated  indifference  well,  as  he  had 
proposed.  He  took  part  gayly  in  the  round  game, 
danced  with  Ada  Trull,  and  escorted  Ottilie  about  a 
great  deal  on  his  arm. 

Angelica  thought  he  must  be  contemptuous  indeed 
to  console  himself  with  such  a  rival  as  the  last.  She 
would  rather  have  seen  him,  too,  with  a  certain  air 
of  depression  and  gloom  —  though,  to  be  sure,  what 
difference  did  it  make  ? 

Dr.  Wyburd's  poem  proved  to  be  a  record  of  names 
and  doings,  more  or  less  authenticated,  about  the 
Sprowle  family  given  in  a  poor  doggerel.  Poetry, 
perhaps  literature  in  general,  was  not  the  doctor's 
strong  point,  although  he  dabbled  in  it  much  to  his 
own  satisfaction.  A  sufficient  idea  of  the  character  of 
his  performance  may  be  had  from  some  such  couplets 
as  these :  — 

"  Colonels  Corlear  and  Robert,  those  men  of  strong  will, 
And  Verplanck  D.  Sprowle,  who  built  the  first  mill ; 
Governor  Cyrus,  Chancellor  Garrett,  —  also  first  judge  of  court,  — 
And  Rufus,  the  patriot,  whom  no  British  gold  bought." 

The  approaching  union  of  Sprowle  and  Angelica 
was  mentioned  in  its  turn.  A  clumsily  turned  com- 
pliment had  been  inserted  in  praise  of  the  paragon  of 
youth  and  beauty  who  was  both  to  confer  and  receive 
honor  by  consenting  to  unite  herself  to  the  illustrious 
Sprowle  lineage.  This  was  received  with  applause, 
and  the  health  of  the  pair  was  proposed  in  a  eulogis, 


A  GARDEN  PARTY  ON  THE  HUDSON,  AND  ITS  SEQUEL.    283 

tic  toast.  Sprowle  rose  to  reply,  but  acquitted  him- 
self in  a  manner  little  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  crit- 
ical betrothed. 

It  might  have  been  supposed  that  Miss  Angelica 
Harvey  would  be  especially  content  in  her  choice,  on 
such  a  day  of  glorification  of  the  family  importance, 
which  had  been  her  principal  object  in  making  it. 
This,  however,  was  hardly  the  case.  Whether  it 
were  that  inopportune  discontent  which  is  said  to  al- 
ways hang  about  the  culmination  of  human  wishes,  or 
a  regretful  drawing  of  contrasts  now  at  the  last  mo- 
ment, or  merely  a  pique  at  the  indifference  of  King- 
bolt, she  was  much  out  of  sorts. 

Kingbolt's  indifference  proved  so  well  simulated  in 
the  beginning  and  so  poorly  in  the  sequel,  as  to  pro- 
vide New  York  society  with  something  like  a  nine 
days'  wonder,  and  radically  change  the  fortunes  of  a 
number  of  our  characters. 

The  company  scattered  at  random  after  the  deliv- 
ery of  the  poem.  Ottilie  interested  herself  in  the  an- 
tiquity of  the  place  and  the  series  of  attractive  views. 
From  the  high  colonnaded  porch  there  were  vistas  of 
the  river  framed  in  the  foliage  of  the  great  trees. 
Now  a  white  steamboat  forged  across  them  ;  now  a 
becalmed  sloop  drifted  into  them  ;  or  a  puffing  tug 
passed  with  interminable  slowness,  by  reason  of  a 
long  train  of  canal-boats  in  its  tow.  The  hazy  atmos- 
phere dropped  a  bluish  veil  between  the  foreground 
and  the  distance.  Over  among  the  cliffs  of  the  far- 
ther shore  patches  of  the  autumn  foliage  seemed  as  if 
dimly  burning.  A  row-boat,  moving  across  the  deep 
shadow  and  reflection  of  that  farther  shore,  drew  a 
long  line  of  silver  behind  it. 

There  was  talk,  on  the  porch,  of  remains  of  revo- 


284  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

lutionary  earthworks  still  existing  in  the  vicinity. 
Stillsby  pressed  himself  upon  Ottilie  as  an  escort  to 
go  in  search  of  them.  Not  greatly  versed  in  polite 
arts  for  escaping  boredom,  she  amiably  accepted  him. 
This  youth  had  primed  himself  to-day —  having  hear^ 
an  inkling  of  OttihVs  taste  —  with  a  liberal  stock  of 
poetical  quotations,  and  was  looking  for  an  opportu- 
nity to  put  them  to  their  intended  use. 

Kingbolt  offered  Angelica  flippant  "  congratula- 
tions "  of  the  usual  sort,  which  secretly  exasperated 
her.  Somewhat  later,  they  two  were  left  together, 
removed  from  the  rest,  near  the  gate  of  the  old-fash- 
ioned garden.  With  the  situation  thus,  Angelica 
could  not  forbear  opening  her  mind  a  little. 

She  was  looking  particularly  well  to-day,  Kingbolt 
thought.  He  could  see  it  with  half  an  eye,  though 
affecting  not  to  attend,  and  though  he  was  in  the 
habit  of  finding  each  successive  toilette  the  most  fas- 
cinating. She  wore  her  gray  corduroy  coaching  dress, 
with  a  wide-brimmed  hat  and  feather  to  match  ;  and 
around  her  waist  a  silver  belt  with  a  long  chain  de- 
pending from  it  nearly  to  the  ground,  holding  a  mul- 
titude of  pretty  trinkets,  as  vinaigrettes,  tablets,  dog- 
whistles,  and  betting-books,  which  clinked  as  she 
walked. 

"  I  would  rather  you  would  not  be  angry  with  me, 
if  you  are,"  she  began.  "  If  there  is  anything  in 
which  you  think  I  have  been  wrong,  —  under  the  cir- 
cumstances, —  I  am  sure  —  I  am  very  sorry.  I  trust 
that  we  shall  part  as  friends." 

She  was  very  enticing  thus,  but  Kingbolt  thought 
good  to  make  little  reply.  He  refused  to  be  drawn 
out  of  a  reserved  and  gloomy  air  he  now  assumed,  and 
which  the  young  lady  thought  much  more  becoming 


A  GARDEN  PARTY  ON  THE  HUDSON,  AND  ITS  SEQUEL.    285 

to  him  than  the  other.  By  little  and  little,  as  if  un- 
consciously, they  had  ventured  into  the  garden,  and 
were  pacing  the  principal  alley.  This  alley  led  to  a 
retired  bower  on  the  crest  of  a  well-wooded  slope 
which  declined  to  the  river.  The  bower  was  of  lat- 
tice-work, in  the  Dutch  style,  with  a  roof  painted  red, 
and  finished  with  a  weather-cock.  Persons  within 
were  invisible  from  the  side  of  the  house.  Here  the 
two,  having  strolled  to  it,  presently  sat  down. 

Meanwhile  Ottilie  and  her  eccentric  escort  had 
found  the  historic  earthworks  of  which  they  had  gone 
in  quest,  and  were  retracing  their  steps  by  a  pleasant 
path  up  the  wooded  slope.  Stillsby,  proceeding  by 
gradual  stages,  had  now  launched  fairly  into  his  stock 
of  intellectual  lore,  and  was  looking  for  consequences 
from  the  onslaught.  He  had  quoted  from  "  My  name 
is  Norval ;  "  "  Farewell,  farewell  to  thee,  Araby's 
daughter  ;  "  the  "  Maid  of  Athens  ;  "  and  the  "  Semi- 
nole's Reply."  The  mystified  Ottilie  was  beginning 
to  arrive  at  an  amused  conception  of  his  object. 

The  interview  in  the  bower  had  proceeded  but  a 
little  way,  when  Kingbolt  burst  out  into  a  torrent  of 
reproaches  and  entreaties,  as  of  old.  Angelica  had 
reason  now  to  repent  her  ill-advised  course  in  allow- 
ing the  subject  to  be  reopened  in  any  degree  what- 
ever. She  rose,  in  alarm,  and  would  have  gone  away, 
but  Kingbolt  detained  her.  She  seemed  obliged  to 
argue  with  him  somewhat  further,  now  that  she  had 
once  begun. 

"  How  utterly  without  reason  you  are  !  "  she  said. 
"  You  talk  the  wildest  nonsense.  Just  imagine  for 
one  moment  what  a  stir  there  would  be,  what  an 
upheaval  in  society,  if  the  engagement  of  anybody 
of  consequence  —  I  do  not  say  mine,  but  anybody's 


286  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

—  should  be  broken  after  having  gone  as  far  as 
this." 

"  What  is  a  hubbub  of  a  few  days,  or  a  few  weeks, 

—  or  a  few  months,  for  that  matter,  —  compared  with 
the  happiness  of  a  life-time  ?  I  know  you  do  not  care 
for  Sprowle.  How  can  you  ?  —  you,  so  beautiful  and 
superior.  Yet  you  have  got  to  go  on  with  him  not 
merely  for  a  little  while,  but  all  your  life-time.  Re- 
member that  !  Oh,  break  with  him,  Angelica  !  It 
is  not  too  late.     Oh,  break  with  him  !  " 

He  caught  her  hand,  but  she  drew  it  quickly  away, 
saying,  — 

"  Let  me  go  !  I  cannot  let  you  talk  so  about  him. 
I  am  going  back  to  the  house." 

"  He  is  a  milksop,  a  molly-coddle,  a  fool.  I  con- 
sider him  but  little  better  than  Stillsby,"  pursued  her 
companion  excitedly.  "  All  the  men  know  it.  The 
idea  of  his  being  able  to  appreciate  a  girl  like  you  ! 
And  as  to  morality,  —  if  you  come  to  that,  he  is  not 
a  straw  better  than  the  rest  of  us." 

As  the  young  woman  had  not  selected  her  future 
husband  chiefly  on  grounds  of  his  superior  wisdom  or 
morality,  this  argument  was  not  as  effective  as  some 
other  perchance  might  have  been. 

"  No  !  Impossible  !  "  she  reiterated.  "  Do  not  de- 
tain me  against  my  will !     Let  us  go  back  at  once  !  " 

"  Well,  then,  I  cannot  bear  it,  do  you  understand?  " 
cried  the  lover,  throwing  out  his  arms  in  a  wild  way. 
"It  suffocates  me  !  It  tears  me  to  pieces!  There  are 
fellows  who  talk  about  suicide.  Plenty  of  them 
would  not  do  it,  you  know  ;  it  is  all  talk  ;  but  I  be- 
lieve I  am  one  of  the  kind  who  would.  You  will 
hear  nothing  more  of  me  till  kingdom  come,  after  you 
are  married  to  him.  I  cannot  live,  I  tell  you.  I  will 
not  live." 


A  GARDEN  PARTY  ON  THE  HUDSON,  AND  ITS  SEQUEL.    287 

The  blood  rushed  to  his  face  and  stalwart  neck, 
swelling  out  the  veins.  He  contorted  his  body  in  a 
writhing  way  upon  the  hips,  and  threw  his  arms 
aloft,  in  the  attitude  of  the  young  Orestes  pursued 
by  the  Furies.  It  must  have  been  a  spasm,  now  in 
mature  life,  like  those  of  his  childish  days,  when  he 
had  been  shut  up  in  his  padded  room.  His  fine  fig- 
ure was  displayed  in  these  unconscious  movements  to 
excellent  advantage. 

Angelica,  approaching,  laid  a  hand  persuasively  on 
his  arm.     "  Let  us  talk  reasonably,"  she  said. 

"  Reasonably  ?  There  is  no  reason  but  in  your 
being  mine,  and  mine  alone." 

He  turned  quickly.  His  handsome  eyes  blazed 
into  her  own.  What  an  adulation  was  this,  com- 
pared with  the  sluggish  way  of  Sprowle !  She  de- 
layed an  instant  too  long  in  this  dangerous  proxim- 
ity. Kingbolt  took  her  in  his  arms,  and  kissed  her 
passionately.     She  did  not  resist. 

Ottilie,  with  her  sentimental  companion,  was  at 
this  moment  emerging  from  the  wood. 

"  Longfellow,  now,  is  a  nice  poet,"  Stillsby  was 
saying.  "You  take  his — now — that  c Excelsior.'  I 
call  that  Al." 

"  Yes,"  rejoined  the  long-suffering  Ottilie. 
The  embrace  in  the  bower  flashed  full  upon  the 
view  of  both. 

"  Hi !  "  ejaculated  Stillsby,  his  eyes  starting  from 
his  head  in  uncontrolled  surprise. 

But  Ottilie  managed  to  draw  him  back  into  the 
covert  of  the  foliage  before  they  were  themselves  per- 
ceived, and  they  returned  by  another  way.  When 
they  had  gone  some  little  distance  in  silence,  Ottilie 
offered  as  a  deprecating  suggestion  :  — 


288  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

"  It  seems  to  me  it  would  be  better  not  to  make 
any  mention  of  what  we  have  seen." 

44  Oh,  certainly  not !  certainly  not ! "  her  cavalier 
hastened  to  protest,  with  alacrity,  "  if  you  wish  it." 

The  warmer  and  more  human  impulses  had  pre- 
vailed, after  all,  over  calm  calculation,  and  the  en- 
gagement of  Angelica  was  definitely  broken.  She 
was  not  less  capable  of  acting  upon  impulse  than 
Kingbolt,  it  seemed,  and  she  had  the  most  obstinate 
of  wills  to  sustain  any  course  upon  which  she  might 
enter. 

The  pair  set  to  discussing  the  difficult  problem  of 
their  future.  Mrs.  Harvey  would  consent  to  the  re- 
versal of  her  favorite  plan  only  with  extreme  diffi- 
culty ;  that  was  certain.  The  calmer  and  sterner 
opposition  of  Rodman  Harvey  to  the  unbusiness-like 
step  was  to  be  dreaded  even  more.  Then  Sprowle 
was  to  be  got  rid  of,  and  there  was  the  presumable 
rage  of  his  mother  and  all  the  Sprowle  connection, 
though  of  these  Angelica  affected  to  make  light. 

She  was  very  affectionate  with  her  new  lover,  pet- 
ted and  soothed  him,  but  repudiated  his  suggestions, 
which  were  more  notable  for  a  vehement  contempt  of 
the  obstacles  than  for  tact. 

44  Leave  it  all  to  me,"  she  said,  finally.  "Nothing 
must  be  said  or  done  just  now.  We  must  appear  for 
a  while  mere  ordinary  acquaintances,  as  before." 

She  began  with  her  betrothed  a  course  of  alien- 
ating tactics,  on  the  very  journey  back  to  town.  The 
next  day,  for  he  was  fond  of  her,  and  came  often,  she 
would  not  see  him.  The  next,  when  he  brought  her 
some  present,  she  ridiculed  it  in  an  exasperating  way, 
saying,  "  You  dear,  good,  stupid  thing,   do  take  it 


A  GARDEN  PARTY  ON  THE  HUDSON,  AND  ITS  SEQUEL.    289 

away !  You  have  no  more  taste  than  Marmion."  At 
a  subsequent  meeting  she  gave  out  that  she  had 
heard  something  against  him,  —  against  his  moral 
character.  Being  pressed,  she  would  not  tell  what 
this  was ;  then  said  it  was  of  no  consequence,  though 
having  still  every  appearance  of  retaining  a  preju- 
dice. She  was  absent-minded  ;  asked  him  repeat- 
edly, "  What  did  you  say  ?  "  and  paid  no  attention  to 
his  answers.  In  short,  she  crowded  into  the  briefest 
space  of  time  the  greatest  number  of  annoyances. 
A  saint  would  have  been  unsettled  with  less.  When 
at  last  Sprowle  resented  this  conduct  in  a  fairly  vig- 
orous way,  for  him,  she  became  hysterical. 

"  Go  ! "  she  said,  in  the  true  spirit  of  the  meek 
wolf  with  the  ferocious  lamb.  "  All  is  over  between 
us.  Nothing  that  I  can  do  any  longer  is  right.  It 
was  not  so  once."  She  pressed  her  handkerchief  to 
her  eyes,  and  went  sobbing  from  the  room. 

She  granted  him  another  meeting,  however.  In 
this,  although  her  ultimatum  of  the  day  before  was 
not  at  first  adhered  to,  she  managed  to  make  the 
situation  in  the  end  more  acrimonious  than  ever. 
After  this  she  wrote  to  Sprowle  that  she  could  now 
see  that  they  had  never  been  congenial,  though  they 
may  have  thought  so.  It  would  have  been  folly  for 
them  to  marry.  She  hereby  canceled  her  engage- 
ment with  him.  It  was  to  be  considered  absolutely 
and  finally  at  an  end. 

She  hurried  back  to  him  his  ring  and  other  pres- 
ents. Efforts  on  his  part  to  see  her,  repeated  expos- 
tulations by  letter,  were  in  vain.  He  offered  humble 
apologies,  —  though  he  knew  not  for  what.  He  of- 
fered to  have  the  wedding  put  off  ;  to  wait  for  her 
indefinitely.     No,  all  was  useless. 

19 


290  THE  HOUSE  OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

Through  chagrin,  he  did  not  at  once  make  known 
to  his  mother  what  had  happened,  but  went  out  of 
town  for  a  few  days.  Never  in  all  his  career  as  sec- 
retary of  legation,  his  lounging  in  club  windows, 
participation  in  the  observances  of  polite  society  and 
athletic  sports,  had  he  met  with  or  heard  of  such  an 
experience  before. 

The  situation  as  between  Angelica  and  her  mother 
settled  itself  only  after  such  a  violent  contest  as 
might  have  been  foreseen.  It  ended  in  the  triumph 
of  the  stronger  will,  as  could  also  have  been  fore- 
seen. The  girl  declared  her  purpose  to  marry  King- 
bolt irrevocably  fixed,  and  that  no  power  under 
heaven  should  shake  it.  The  defeated  mother  then 
went  reluctantly  over  to  her  side.  They  planned 
together  that  the  cause  of  the  dismissal  of  Sprowle 
should  not  be  disclosed,  not  to  Rodman  Harvey  more 
than  others.  It  was  to  be  attributed  to  uncongen- 
iality,  a  caprice,  a  quarrel,  —  anything  but  the  sub- 
stitution of  a  new  lover.  If  Kingbolt  should  appear 
afterwards,  —  as  what  more  natural  than  that  there 
should  be  other  suitors  ?  —  and  be  accepted,  no  nec- 
esssary  connection  need  be  found  between  the  two 
events. 

This  arrangement  was  foiled,  however,  by  the  in- 
discretion of  so  apparently  unimportant  a  person  as 
Stillsby.  The  manners  of  Stillsby  at  the  Empire 
Club  for  the  first  few  days  after  the  scene  he  had 
witnessed  at  the  garden  party  were  a  marvel  to  all 
who  knew  him. 

"  What  the  devil  is  the  matter  with  the  fellow," 
asked  Whitehead  Finch,  —  "  smirking,  and  glower- 
ing, and  snooping  about  like  that?  He  seems  to  get 
lighter  in  the  upper  story  every  day.     He  was  well 


A  GARDEN  PARTY  ON  THE  HUDSON,  AND  ITS  SEQUEL.  291 

enough  when  he  first  joined  the  club.  I  recollect 
when  he  had  almost  as  much  sense  as  the  average." 

"  Calibre  of  his  associates.  Dropped  to  the  level 
of  the  rest  of  you,"  said  Watervliet,  using  the  free- 
dom of  a  privileged  character  and  an  old  bird. 

To  forbear  from  adding  to  his  own  importance  by 
disclosing  what  he  knew,  especially  when  the  news  of 
the  broken  engagement  came  out,  and  it  was  spoken 
of  as  something  mysterious  and  unaccountable,  was 
more  than  Stillsby,  after  heroic  effort,  was  capable  of. 
He  confided  his  secret  to  one  and  then  another,  and 
the  club  was  soon  buzzing  with  it.  It  came  in  this 
way  to  the  ears  of  Sprowle  Onderdonk,  with  others. 

It  was  the  afternoon  of  Election  Day,  as  it  hap- 
pened, when  the  political  fortunes  of  Rodman  Har- 
vey were  being  weighed  in  the  balance.  Sprowle 
Onderdonk  hastened  to  Stillsby,  had  the  story  out  of 
him,  and  was  soon  after  closeted  with  his  aunt,  and 
his  cousin  Sprowle,  now  returned  to  town. 

The  dowager  Mrs.  Sprowle  ordered  her  carriage, 
and  drove  to  the  Harvey  mansion.  She  made  her 
way  up  to  Mrs.  Harvey's  boudoir,  where  she  had  so 
often  been  before  on  more  agreeable  errands.  Her 
black  and  vindictive  aspect  told  the  cause  of  her 
coming,  even  before  she  had  opened  her  lips.  Ottilie, 
who  was  in  attendance,  trembled  at  her  violent  re- 
proaches. 

If  "  My  dear  Mrs.  Sprowles "  and  "  My  dear 
madams,"  uttered  in  the  most  deprecating  way  by 
Mrs.  Rodman  Harvey,  could  have  saved  the  day,  it 
would  have  been  done.  But  it  could  not.  Angelica, 
however,  hearing  in  her  chamber  above  some  rumor 
of  what  was  in  progress,  came  down,  in  a  semi-in- 
yrJM  condition,  pale,  disheveled,  in  a  charming  wrap- 


292  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

per  of  lace  and  knots  of  ribbon.  She  lent  her  assist- 
ance, engaged  the  enemy  intrepidly,  and,  moved, 
perhaps,  by  the  consciousness  of  being  wholly  in  the 
wrong,  had  soon  thrown  all  attempt  at  conciliation 
to  the  winds.  There  was  a  vixenish  quality  in  her 
anger  when  at  white  heat  which  a  lover  of  the  ami- 
able in  woman  would  not  have  cared  to  see.  Mrs. 
Sprowle  retired  down  the  staircase,  breathing  threat- 
en ings  and  slaughter. 

"  The  brazen,  brazen  girl !  "  she  muttered.  "  That 
ever  I  should  have  taken  up  with  such  people  !  .  .  . 
Oh,  if  I  had  but  known  this  before  !  "  as  she  pulled 
together  the  door  of  her  carriage  with  a  trembling 
hand. 

And  again  she  said,  at  a  conclave  of  the  Sprowle 
interest  summoned  to  meet  at  her  house  that  even- 
ing, "  Oh,  if  I  had  but  known  this  before !  " 

If  she  meant  that  she  might,  in  that  event,  have 
done  something  to  impede  Rodman  Harvey's  election, 
and  strike  at  the  women  of  the  family  through  him, 
it  was  now  too  late.  At  sunset  Michael  Brannagan, 
nominee  of  Tammany  Hall,  was  beaten,  and  Harvey 
duly  elected  next  representative  in  Congress  from  the 
most  important  district  in  New  York.  Baleful  glances 
might  be  shot  across  the  street  from  the  darkened 
residence  of  the  Sprowles,  but  these  could  not  pre- 
vent that  of  the  merchant  prince  from  being  brightly 
illuminated,  nor  the  coming  of  troops  of  admiring 
friends  to  offer  congratulations  on  his  victory. 

Towards  eleven  o'clock,  when  the  returns  were 
verified,  and  there  could  be  no  dispute  about  the  re- 
sult, the  henchmen  who  had  borne  the  heat  and  bur- 
den of  the  day  arrived  with  a  brass  band  to  tender 
a  serenade.     In  the  cheering  concourse  were  many 


A  GARDEN  PARTY  ON  THE  HUDSON,  AND  ITS  SEQUEL.    293 

of  the  merchant's  clerks.  They  did  not  reside  in  his 
district,  and  had  not  been  able  to  vote  for  him,  but 
had  felt  the  excitement  at  the  store,  where  it  had 
relaxed  the  usual  discipline  for  a  day  or  two.  They 
had  chaffed  and  offered  wagers  there  with  a  zest  that 
would  not  have  misbecome  the  Empire  Club,  and 
they  now  came  to  hear  "  the  old  man  "  speak. 

He  stood  forth,  his  head  bare,  on  the  broad  steps. 
The  noises  about  him  were  suddenly  hushed.  At 
the  Sprowle  mansion,  as  elsewhere,  was  audible  his 
opening  phrase,  "  Fellow  citizens."  Then  followed 
such  fragments  as  "  the  proud  satisfaction,  —  the 
momentous  issues,  —  one  whose  interests  are  identi- 
cal with  your  own,  —  this  great  New  York,  —  this 
imperial  city  of  ours,  —  washed  on  three  sides  by 
rivers,  with  a  bay  capable  of  holding  the  commercial 
navies  of  the  world.  —  Men  of  all  nations  and  climes, 
—  the  enterprise,  wealth,  and  skill  of  our  people. 
Thanking  you  once  more  for  your  kind  attention,  he 
concluded,  "  I  will  bid  you  good-night !  " 

There  were  more  shrill  cheers ;  the  band  struck  up 
briskly  ;  there  was  a  bustle  of  hand-shaking  on  the 
steps  ;  some  of  the  leaders  were  invited  into  the 
house ;  refreshments  were  passed  around  outside. 
Then  came  more  music  by  the  band.  It  marched 
away,  its  notes  sounding  fainter  and  fainter  in  the 
distance,  and  the  merchant  prince  was  left  to  repose 
upon  his  new  honors. 

Rodman  Harvey  made  much  less  of  the  news  of 
the  substitution  of  Kingbolt  for  Sprowle,  when  it 
was  broken  to  him,  than  his  family  had  dreaded. 
Whether  it  was  that  lie  was  occupied  with  his  own 
affairs,  and  did  not  fully  appreciate  its  bearing  upon 


294  THE   HOUSE    OF   A  MERCHANT   PRTNCE. 

himself,  or  for  other  reasons,  he  appeared,  after  a 
decorous  amount  of  advice,  to  regard  the  choice  of 
Kingbolt  with  genuine  favor. 

u  He  has  so  much  more  money,  you  know,  papa," 
urged  Angelica,  anxious  to  make  the  case  the  most 
secure  possible. 

"  Yes,  I  know,"  he  replied.  "  The  Eureka  Tool 
Works,  and  its  founder,  Colonel  Kingbolt,  are  like 
household  words." 

"  The  matter  chiefly  concerns  you,"  he  said  to  the 
two  women.  "  You  made  the  first  match  for  reasons 
good  and  sufficient  to  yourselves,  and  now  that  you 
are  pleased  to  change  your  views  I  do  not  know  that 
I  am  called  upon  to  interfere.  Only  do  not  let  it  hap- 
pen again.  It  is  most  unbusiness-like  and  reprehensi- 
ble. I  trust  that  you  have  done  everything,  as  far  as 
possible,  to  reconcile  the  Sprowles.  They  are  a  strong 
clan,  and  their  ill-will  is  a  matter  of  consequence." 

The  women  suppressed  some  of  the  aggravated 
circumstances  of  the  affair,  and  did  not  tell  him  that 
it  was  war  to  the  knife  already  with  the  Sprowles. 

The  news  had  its  various  effects  in  many  quarters. 
It  came  to  Mr.  Fletcher  St.  Hill  upon  the  heels  of 
his  fancied  recovery  of  control  over  Kingbolt,  and 
caused  in  that  financier  a  profound  revulsion  of  feel- 
ing. Now,  indeed,  was  his  patron  lost  to  him,  and 
it  was  time  for  him  to  make  to  himself  new  friends 
in  the  mammon  of  iniquity.  He  moved  his  Pruden- 
tial Land  and  Loan  Company  two  flights  higher  up 
in  the  Magoon  Building.  He  took  himself,  after 
a  while,  witli  his  grudge  against  Harvey,  to  the 
Sprowles.  They  received  him  with  open  arms.  He 
was  to  aid  them  in  working  up  a  campaign.  On  the 
strength  of   this  Sprowle  Onderdonk   advanced  him 


A  GARDEN  PARTY  ON  THE  HUDSON,  AND  ITS  SEQUEL.    295 

money.  St.  Hill  imparted,  gradually,  and  under 
strict  pledge  of  confidence,  his  secret,  and  showed 
Harvey's  treasonable  correspondence  in  his  posses- 
sion. "  My  business  relations  are  too  delicate,"  he 
explained,  "  and  my  situation  here  as  a  Southerner 
too  critical,  to  allow  me  to  engage  in  a  contest  with 
so  powerful  an  adversary.  There  is  no  telling  what 
calumnies  he  might  invent,  and  even  give  a  certain 
currency,  too,  in  return,  through  his  recognized  stand- 
ing." 

44  These  are  good,  but  not  enough,"  groaned  Mrs- 
Sprowle  over  the  letters.  "  They  would  have  in- 
jured him  politically,  but  more  is  wanted." 

"  She  would  have  liked  to  convict  Rodman  Har- 
vey of  arsons,  assassinations,  —  the  most  heinous  of 
crimes." 

The  news  came  to  Bainbriclge  by  the  mouth  of  G. 
Lloyd,  the  architect,  the  day  after  Harvey's  election. 
It  was  a  dismal,  wet  November  day,  one  of  those 
that  herald,  in  peculiarly  disagreeable  fashion,  the 
advent  of  winter.  The  rain  beat  like  small  shot 
against  his  office  windows,  and  scourged  the  ferry- 
boats and  wandering  sails  before  it  like  guilty  things, 
down  on  the  wide  yellow  river.  In  the  squares  it  tore 
off  the  leaves  by  the  handful,  and  endeavored  to  beat 
them  into  the  ground  with  a  superfluity  of  malice. 

The  two  met  in  the  damp  hall  of  the  Magoon 
Building,  at  noon,  and  their  umbrellas  ran  little  pools 
upon  the  tile  pavement  while  they  talked. 

"  By  the  way,  another  lively  exploit  of  our  friend 
Kingbolt,"  said  Lloyd.  "  We  were  talking  about 
him,  the  other  evening,  you  remember.     Heard?  " 

"  No,"  said  Bainbridge. 

"  He  has  cut  out  Sprowle  with  Harvey's  handsome 
daughter,  and  got  her  for  himself.     Fact !  " 


296  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

"  Heavens  —  No  !     But  is  n't  it  pretty  sudden  ?  " 

"  They  say  he  has  been  dangling  around  her  this 
ever  so  long.  I  got  it  from  some  club  men.  People 
saw  them  hugging  each  other  at  a  garden-party  up 
the  Hudson.     That's  what  brought  on  the  crisis." 

Bainbridge  walked  about  in  the  blustering  weather 
in  a  rapture.  Perhaps  he  hardly  noted  that  it  rained. 
For  him  it  had  suddenly  become  the  most  genial  of 
days.  The  sun  was  shining  at  but  the  slightest  re- 
move behind  the  enshrouding  vapors. 

Ottilie  not  another's  at  all  ?  and  still  open  to  him? 
He  knew  very  well  what  he  meant  to  do  at  the  first 
practicable  moment  for  getting  up  town.  He  called 
himself  a  million  idiots  for  having  so  mistaken  the 
true  state  of  affairs.  What  must  she  have  thought 
of  him  ?  And  he  a  lawyer,  and  presumably  in  the 
habit  of  attaching  something  like  its  real  value  to 
evidence  !  He  entered  a  florist's,  and  sent  Ottilie 
some  flowers,  accompanied  by  a  note. 

Ottilie,  in  her  room,  looking  out  of  her  window  at 
the  dismal  prospect,  received,  that  afternoon,  a  paste- 
board box  full  of  Jacqueminot  roses.  They  were  cut 
with  long  stems,  and  laid  in  a  protection  of  cotton- 
wool. Their  dewiness  and  perfume  were  still  upon 
them,  as  if  fresh  from  the  conservatory.  The  young 
girl  had  never  had  a  more  delightful  compliment. 
The  inclement  season  trebled  its  charm.  What  did 
it  all  mean  ?     She  read  the  following  lines  :  — 

Dear  Miss  Ottilie,  —  I  seem  to  have  been  la- 
boring under  some  stupid  delusion.     Happily,  it  is 
past.     I  wonder  if  you  will  be  at  home  this  evening. 
I  shall  give  myself  the  pleasure  of  trying  to  find  you. 
Sincerely  yours, 

Russell  Bainbridge. 


A  GARDEN  PARTY  ON  THE  HUDSON,  AND  ITS  SEQUEL.    297 

Delusion  ?  What  delusion  ?  What  was  she  to 
understand  ?  Here  was  testimony  enough,  if  more 
were  needed,  that  in  Bainbridge  one  was  dealing  with 
no  ordinary  person.  She  sat  in  an  attitude  of  pensive 
reflection,  burying  her  face  from  time  to  time  in  the 
lovely  roses.  She  was  greatly  puzzled.  At  any  rate, 
he  was  coming  to  see  her  again,  and  of  that  she  was 
very  glad.  Suddenly  she  started  up,  seized  her  pen, 
rang  for  a  district  telegraph  messenger,  and  wrote  :  — 

Dear  Mr.  Bainbridge,  —  Thank  you  so  much 
for  the  flowers  you  have  been  kind  enough  to  send 
me.  What  a  bit  of  tropical  beauty  and  fragrance  on 
this  blustering  day  !  I  am  sorry  to  say,  however,  that 
I  cannot  be  at  home  this  evening.  I  am  not  wholly 
mistress  of  my  own  motions,  as  you  know,  and  my 
aunt  has  made  some  arrangement  for  me  which  will 
keep  me  away  both  this  evening  and  to-morrow.  I 
consider  it  very  unfortunate.  But  will  you  not  come 
very  soon  after  that  ?  Your  "  delusion  "  is  a  great 
mystery.  What  can  it  be  ?  I  think  I  have  had  rea- 
son to  fear  some  such  delusion  on  your  part  as  that 
you  had  fancied  you  cared  a  little  for  yours  truly, 
but  found  you  did  not.         With  sincere  regards, 

Ottilie  Harvey. 

Could  Bainbridge  have  found  Ottilie  in  the  first 
flush  of  his  enthusiasm,  she  would  have  heard  from 
him  an  ardent  declaration  of  his  state  of  mind,  what- 
ever effect  we  may  suppose  it  to  have  had  upon  her. 
But  this  was  not  to  be  for  some  time  longer.  He 
had  a  night  and  a  day  of  enforced  reflection.  Even 
after  that  he  did  not  at  once  find  her  alone.  Noth- 
ing, in  fact,  had  changed  in  their  circumstances,  from 


298  THE   HOUSE   OF  A   MERCHANT  PRINCE. 

the  point  of  view  of  marriage.  Were  they  not  as 
poor  as  ever  ?  It  is  only  in  the  story-books,  when 
true-lovers  take  each  other  for  better  or  worse,  throw- 
ing prudential  considerations  to  the  winds,  that  every- 
thing else  is  immediately  added  unto  them.  "  Rod- 
man Harvey  would  look  at  a  proposal  for  his  niece's 
hand  as  an  attempt  upon  his  purse-strings,  and  would 
close  them  tighter  than  ever.  And  who  wishes  him 
to  open  them  on  my  account,  since  he  will  not  on 
hers  ?  "  said  Bainbridge.  "  No,  let  us  wait  a  little." 
He  had  an  indefinite  sense  that  something  must  tarn 
up  to  aid  them.  The  immediate  danger  was  over. 
He  would  study  out  a  solution  of  their  difficulties  at 
leisure.  Their  former  relations  were  resumed.  Why 
hurry,  in  fine,  a  situation  which  was  so  charming  in 
itself  ? 

He  began  to  walk  much  in  Wall  Street  in  his  noon 
outings.  He  studied  the  backs  of  the  capitalists  who 
had  achieved  notable  success  there,  then  crossed  over 
and  met  them  face  to  face,  and  endeavored  to  divine 
their  secret.  Some  were  of  very  ordinary  aspect,  — 
shamble-gaited,  and  of  pinched  and  mean  little  phys- 
iognomies. They  did  not  look  happy,  with  all  their 
money,  and  plenty  of  well  -  authenticated  stories 
showed  that  they  were  not.  But  that  was  not  to  the 
purpose  ;  so  much  the  worse  luck  theirs.  If  he,  Bain- 
bridge, had  it,  he  could  be  happy. 

The  dark  mass  of  Trinity  Church  rose  at  the  head 
of  the  narrow,  opulent  street,  its  quiet  old  churchyard 
in  such  contrast  to  the  eager  human  life  rushing  by, 
as  if  death  and  graves  were  the  most  improbable  of 
myths.  Down  the  street  jutted  out  the  temple-like 
porticoes  of  the  sub-treasury  and  the  custom-house. 
The  multitudinous  needs  of  commerce  had  spun  a  cob- 


A  GARDEN  PARTY  ON  THE  HUDSON,  AND  ITS  SEQUEL.  299 

web  of  telegraph  wires  across  the  sky.  At  places 
they  ruled  it  into  squares  like  those  of  the  ledgers  be- 
low, and  again  converged  in  bundles  like  ships'  cord- 
age. Trays  of  gold  pieces  shone  in  the  windows  of 
the  basement  offices,  as  if  here,  indeed,  Jupiters  had 
rained  themselves  down,  having  come,  by  mistake,  to 
the  wrong  part  of  town.  The  brokers  waited  in  the 
dark  interiors  for  customers  to  take  the  glittering  bait. 

Bainbridge  gathered  up  one  day  all  his  resources, 
including  a  moderate  loan  from  the  Hudson  Hen- 
dricks, and  went  into  Wall  Street. 

An  idea  had  taken  possession  of  him.  Speculation 
was  not  an  ideal  means  of  redeeming  one's  fortunes, 
and  no  doubt  he  should  be  ashamed  of  it  afterwards. 
But  it  was  a  means,  a  possible  means,  and  there 
seemed  no  other.  There  was  talk,  just  at  present,  of 
unusual  opportunities  for  gain.  The  market  was  ac- 
tively "  booming."  He  determined  to  regard  his 
venture  as  an  augury.  To  win  Ottilie,  if  he  suc- 
ceeded ;  to  give  her  up  to  a  better  custody  than  his, 
if  he  failed  !  Surely  fate  would  be  propitious  to  so 
deserving  a  cause. 

There  was  a  plan  of  buying  on  a  "  margin,"  or 
percentage,  by  which  one  secured  control  of  a  num- 
ber of  shares  vastly  out  of  proportion  to  his  small 
capital.  In  this  way,  in  the  event  of  a  rise  a  large 
profit  was  reaped  ;  though  of  course,  in  the  event  of 
a  considerable  decline,  on  the  other  hand,  the  capital 
one  put  in  was  wholly  wiped  out.  Bainbridge  bought 
shares  of  Devious  Air-Line,  on  a  margin.  There 
seemed  a  certain  fitness  in  connecting  himself  with 
the  fortunes  of  Rodman  Harvey. 

Devious  Air-Line  remained  stationary  for  a  long 
time.     Then  it  dropped  off  a  point  or  two. 


XX. 

"LALAGE,  SWEETLY  SMILING,  SWEETLY   SPEAKING.*1 

Conventional  lovers  in  the  conventional  stories 
are  always  aware  of  the  precise  extent  of  the  regard 
they  have  for  each  other.  It  is  generally  a  trenzy 
amounting  to  madness.  They  take  the  earliest  (and 
every  subsequent)  opportunity  of  declaring  it,  and 
thereafter  it  is  of  no  will  their  own,  but  only  the 
most  insuperable  of  physical  obstacles,  that  keep 
them  apart. 

But  who  shall  picture  all  the  fluctuations  of  feeling, 
the  misgivings,  the  blowing  hot  and  cold,  of  lovers  in 
real  life,  where  there  are  so  many  affairs  besides  those 
of  the  heart  demanding  attention  ;  so  much  marrying 
and  giving  in  marriage,  indeed,  with  hardly  a  pre- 
tense of  affection  at  all  ?  Balked  in  his  first  intent, 
Bainbridge  did  not  renew  it.  His  imagination  hov- 
ered over  Ottilie  with  an  all-embracing  tenderness, 
but  he  did  not  make  her  any  set  speeches  of  affec- 
tion. 

When  they  had  met  a  number  of  times,  and  he 
had  not  referred  in  any  way  to  his  note,  Ottilie  said 
to  him,  — 

"  Perhaps  you  do  not  remember  that  you  have  not 
told  me  what  your  '  stupid  delusion  '  was.  I  am  dy- 
ing to  know." 

Taken  by  surprise,  he  was  hardly  able  to  vary 
from  the  truth  with  great  ingenuity  at  so  short  notice. 


"LALAGE,  SWEETLY  SMILING,  SWEETLY  SPEAKING."    301 

He  had  hoped  that  as  the  matter  had  not  been  al- 
luded to  so  far,  it  would  remain  uninvestigated.  He 
gave  to  his  admission,  however,  a  flippant  air,  as  if  it 
were  of  but  the  most  trifling  consequence. 

"  Oh,  —  that  ?  Oh,  yes  !  "  he  said.  "  That  was  a 
misunderstanding  about  Kingbolt,  you  know.  I  was 
over-worked,  or  absent-minded,  or  something.  I 
often  get  things  wrong.  I  fancied  that  it  was  you  to 
whom  Kingbolt  was  paying  court  instead  of  Angel- 
ica." 

Ottilie  did  not  reply  on  the  instant.  She  looked 
at  him  with  a  gaze  at  once  bewildered,  reflective, 
amused.  What  a  compliment  he  paid  her  !  He  had 
been  seriously  considering  her,  then,  an  eligible  part- 
ner for  Kingbolt ;  she,  who  considered  herself  so  little 
eligible  for  anybody.  Why,  the  plain  implication 
was,  too,  that  he,  Bainbridge,  had  been  jealous  of  her. 
She  dared  not  trust  this  hypothesis  ;  it  was  too  wild. 
But  in  the  instant  of  making  it  her  heart  beat  quicker, 
and  it  remained  warmer  towards  Bainbridge  ever 
after. 

"  Oh,  you  thought  it  was  I  ?  "  she  said.  "  That  is 
very  interesting.  If  you  could  only  have  known  how 
he  was  boring  me  with  his  talk  about  my  cousin  all 
the  while,  you  would  not  have  thought  so.  I  hardly 
knew  what  to  do.  I  could  not  betray  his  confidence, 
and  yet  I  did  not  want  it.  I  never  supposed  his  per- 
sistence would  have  any  result.  So  that  accounts  for 
your —     So  you  thought  "  — 

She  nibbled  her  lip  with  her  even  white  teeth  in 
the  effort  to  repress  her  smiles.  But  her  smiles  were 
rather  of  keen  delight,  ^vhicli  she  feared  might  betray 
itself,  than  derision. 

"  The  circumstances  fitted  into  one  another  so  per- 


302  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

versely.  Your  riding  with  him  so  much,  you  know, 
and  all  that,"  said  Bainbridge. 

"  And  so  you  stayed  away  ?  "  She  broke  into  a 
merry  laugh. 

"  Well,  yes.     I  did  seem  to  stay  away." 

"  Do  you  not  think  you  are  of  a  rather  peculiar 
disposition  ?  " 

"  I  advised  you,  you  know,"  said  Bainbridge,  waiv- 
ing an  answer  to  this  question.  "  A  companion  of 
that  kind,  if  I  had  been  right,  would  naturally  have 
taken  my  place.  I  thought  I  ought  to  furnish  a  clear 
field." 

"  And  no  favor." 

"  Well,  no  ;  not  very  much  favor." 

"  You  do  me  great  honor,  I  am  sure.  Perhaps  the 
advice  is  good  yet,  in  principle." 

This  was  a  critical  passage  for  Bainbridge.  The 
tone  and  look  of  banter  he  assumed  were  likely  to 
give  place  at  any  instant  to  a  blazing  avowal  of  pas- 
sion.    "  I  am  well  over  it,"  he  thought. 

"  Your  cousin's  new  engagement  is  openly  an- 
nounced, I  hear,"  he  said,  changing  the  subject. 

"  Yes  ;  as  the  murder  was  out,  boldness  was  the 
best  policy.  I  think  they  are  doing  a  number  of 
things  on  that  basis,  still.  It  is  a  continual  round  of 
dinners  and  theatre  parties  for  Angelica.  Mr.  King- 
bolt gets  his  friends  to  give  them,  or  gives  them  him- 
self, sometimes  at  Delmonico's,  sometimes  at  his  own 
apartments,  where  he  has  suitable  chaperons  to  pre- 
side. I  have  seen  some  of  the  menus  of  these  dinners. 
One  is  embroidered  on  satin,  another  is  on  a  silver 
tablet.  Lovely  presents  are  given  the  guests  :  fans, 
sashes  to  match  the  ladies'  dresses,  gold  pins  and  but- 
terflies for  their  hair,  and  satin  bags  of  confectionery. 


"  LALAGE,  SWEETLY  SMILING,  SWEETLY  SPEAKING."    803 

It  is  one  rain  of  gifts  for  Angelica,  besides  :  parcels 
from  the  jeweler,  the  florist,  and  confectioner  all  day 
long.  Do  you  want  to  hear  about  her  engagement 
ring  ?  " 

"  Certainly  I  do.     What  is  it  ?  " 

"  A  diamond  of  five  carats,  in  a  plain  setting.  Oh, 
how  it  glitters  !  She  has  another  ring,  also  a  present, 
with  a  pink  pearl  and  two  diamonds.  It  came  in  a 
porcelain  jewel  case,  in  the  shape  of  an  egg,  a  little 
jewel  itself.  This  was  inclosed  in  a  teak-wood  box, 
elaborately  carved,  and  this  in  a  silk  bag,  drawn  with 
a  cord.     You  would  have  screamed." 

"  I  am  almost  tempted  to  now,  at  your  feeling  de- 
scription." 

"  Angelica  has  given  him  in  return  a  lock  of  hei 
hair,  a  photograph  for  his  dressing-table,  a  cat's-eye 
ring,  and  a  sofa  pillow  partly  embroidered  by  her- 
self." 

"  You  seem  to  take  a  certain  interest  in  such  mat- 
ters." 

u  I  dote  on  them.  I  have  my  epicurean  tastes,  too. 
Poor  old  Lone  Tree  !  I  fear  I  am  forever  spoiled  by 
the  leaven  of  luxury." 

"  I  dare  say  she  is  very  fond  of  him  ?  "  suggested 
Bainbridge. 

"  She  must  be.  She  adjures  him  affectionately  to 
be  careful  of  his  hands,  for  her  sake.  She  thinks  he 
is  ruining  them  by  driving  his  coach,  and  other  sports. 
But,  seriously,  you  see  how  she  has  offended  and 
defied  the  influential  Sprowle  family.  If  you  could 
have  seen  that  old  woman's  face,  the  day  she  came  to 
reproach  my  aunt  about  it  !  I  was  frightened  to 
death.  What  do  you  think  she  will  do?  What  is 
clone  in  this  fashionable  life,  when  people  bitterly 
hate  each  other,  and  want  revenge  ?  " 


304  THE  HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

"  That  is  one  of  the  problems.  Well,  they  have 
their  opinion  of  one  another,  and  when  they  get 
sympathetic  listeners  they  state  it.  Good  old-fash- 
ioned vengeance,  in  fact,  appears  to  be  dying  out. 
It  is  not  a  modern  luxury.  Few  facilities  are  af- 
forded now  for  its  indulgence.  Mortal  enemies  do 
not  usually  invite  each  other  to  dinner,  and  discrim- 
inating hosts  do  not  put  them  next  each  other,  if 
they  chance  to  meet." 

"  Could  the  Sprowles  attack  my  uncle  in  any 
way  ?  "  added  Ottilie,  with  anxiety.  "  They  might 
think  it  best  to  strike  at  my  aunt  and  cousin  through 
him.  Probably  no  other  means  would  be  so  effec- 
tive. I  am  sure  I  should  feel  nothing  more  keenly 
than  any  taint  of  disgrace  that  might  attach  to  him." 

"  Nonsense  !  "  said  Bainbridge.  "  They  may  an- 
noy him  in  some  trifling  way;  but  if  your  uncle 
really  had  any  points  open  to  attack,  it  is  not  likely 
that  he  would  be  as  stiff  and  uncompromising  as  he 
is  with  everybody." 

"  Well,  I  shall  feel  easier  in  mind  when  my  cousin's 
wedding  is  over." 

The  merchant  prince  went  off  to  Washington  in 
December,  and  took  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. 

Kingbolt  and  Angelica,  having  impressed  their 
new  situation  upon  society  to  the  extent  they  thought 
needful,  went  away  to  pay  a  visit  to  the  family  of 
Kingbolt  at  Kingboltsville.  The  young  heir  was 
considerably  overdue  there.  It  was  long  since  he  had 
conferred  with  his  trustees,  and  they,  having  the 
management  of  things  so  very  much  in  their  own 
bands,  began   to  look  upon  him   almost  as  an   inter- 


u  LALAGE,  SWEETLY  SMILING,  SWEETLY  SPEAKING."    305 

loper.  He  owed  it  to  his  mother  and  sisters,  also,  to 
introduce  his  betrothed  to  them. 

His  enthusiasm,  which  under  ordinary  circum- 
stances might  have  cooled  somewhat,  was  kept  aglow 
by  the  opposition  he  met  with.  He  squared  himself 
defiantly  against  it.  It  was  a  wonder  he  did  not 
come  to  blows  with  Sprowle  Onderdonk.  It  was 
probably  due  to  the  forbearance  of  the  latter  that 
an  outbreak  did  not  take  place.  The  two  passed 
each  other  in  the  lobby  of  the  Empire  Club  for  a 
while  with  a  haughty  aggressiveness  of  mien. 

"  Still,"  said  Onderdonk,  "  it  would  be  stretching 
a  point  for  me  to  take  it  up  in  that  way.  It  is  my 
cousin  Sprowle's  affair,  the  idiot !  If  he  can  afford 
to  let  it  alone,  I  suppose  I  can.  Besides,  this  fool  of 
a  Kingbolt  is  not  the  culprit.  It  is  the  Harvey  peo- 
ple. We  must  make  them  feel  it,  root  and  branch. 
Perhaps  we  shall  show  them  in  time  that  slights  are 
not  to  be  put  on  a  family  like  ours  with  impunity." 

Mrs.  Sprowle  spoke  of  Kingbolt  in  much  the  same 
way.  He  was,  according  to  her,  "a  poor  dupe,"  "  the 
rich  j'oung  plebeian  whom  those  designing  women 
had  got  into  their  clutches,"  and  who  was  more  to  be 
pitied  than  blamed,  even  bad  as  his  private  character 
was. 

At  Kingboltsville  the  heir  went  with  Angelica  to 
take  a  glimpse  of  the  great  Works.  "  Would  you 
believe,"  he  inquired,  "  that  I  used  to  come  here  my- 
self, with  blue  shirt  and  dinner-pail,  like  one  of  the 
ordinary  hands,  and  grease  up  the  machinery?  " 

u  Fancy  !  "  his  sweetheart  replied,  with  supreme 
contempt. 

It  was  a  source  of  wonderment  now  to  the  }^oung 
man  himself  that,  with  his  superior  opportunities 
20 


306  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

for  enjoyment  in  the  world,  he  could  ever  have  al- 
lowed himself  to  be  deluded  by  such  absurd  notions 
of  duty. 

An  evening  party  was  given,  and  provincial  so- 
ciety came  out  to  do  Angelica  honor.  The  young 
woman  professed  surprise  to  see  how  very  well  some 
of  these  persons  looked.  She  preserved  with  all  of 
them  a  chilly  demeanor.  Nor  did  she  get  on  better 
with  the  family  itself.  She  privately  termed  the  two 
widowed  sisters  "  frumps."  They  spent  a  humdrum 
existence,  ample  as  their  resources  were,  looking  after 
small  cases  of  charity,  founding  a  church  or  a  school, 
or  patronizing  some  mediocre  artist  who  came  up 
from  New  York  to  establish  classes  in  "  decorative 
art."'  They  dressed  in  black,  though  their  bereave- 
ments were  many  years  remote ;  and  when  they 
descended  from  a  carriage  you  had  a  glimpse  of  rusty 
gaiter  and  stocking. 

Kingbolt's  mother  ventured  an  injudicious  com- 
ment, in  her  timorous  way,  on  his  future  bride.  "  We 
all  admire  her  so  much,  Arthur,"  she  said.  "  She  is 
so  brilliant  in  looks,  so  accomplished.  I  hope  and 
pray  that  she  will  make  you  happy.  But  if  you 
could  only  have  chosen  one  a  little  less  —  a  little 
more  —  not  quite  so  worldly-minded,  perhaps,  dear." 

The  son,  resenting,  in  quite  his  youthful  way,  any 
impugnment  of  the  wisdom  of  whatever  he  might 
choose  to  do,  returned  some  brusque,  impatient  an- 
swer. His  sisters  said,  "  You  should  not  speak  so  to 
your  mother,  Arthur."  Upon  this,  he  flung  himself 
out  of  the  room,  agreeing  with  Angelica,  that  they 
were  hostile  to  her,  as  she  said.  The  pair  presently 
left  so  wnappreciative  a  society,  and  departed  to  visit 
at  Washington. 


*  LALAGE,  SWEETLY  SMILING  SWEETLY  SPEAKING."     307 

There  Angelica  went  about  on  her  lover's  or  her 
father's  arm.  The  great  New  York  merchant  had 
been  from  the  first  put  on  important  committees,  and 
taken  a  prominent  place  in  Congress.  His  beautiful 
daughter  was  something  of  a  new  sensation.  She 
gave  statesmen  from  the  interior  such  a  lesson  in 
feminine  elegance  as  they  had  not  before  enjoyed. 
The  newspaper  correspondents,  taxed  to  the  utmost 
though  they  are,  sought  fuller  resources  of  word- 
painting  to  describe  her.  Ottilie  read  some  of  their 
glowing  accounts  of  her  cousin's  appearance  at  the 
afternoon  receptions,  the  ball  of  the  British  minister, 
the  General  of  the  army,  Admiral  this,  and  Senator 
that.  Angelica  assisted,  too,  the  "  ladies  of  the 
White  House," — who  were  glad  of  her,  and  some- 
what abashed  by  her  ;  and  she  dined  more  than  once 
in  company  with  her  father,  at  the  President's  table. 

Angelica's  opinion  of  the  whole,  in  return,  was  not 
favorable.  "  It  is  a  perfect  menagerie,"  she  said. 
"If  it  were  not  for  the  legation  people,  it  would  be 
quite  intolerable.  No  exclusiveness,  no  fixity,  no 
traditions  !  Everybody  goes  everywhere.  What 
does  a  society  based  upon  a  little  brief  office-holding 
amount  to  ?  These  furbelowed  daughters,  neices, 
and  cousins  of  the  good  bourgeois  legislators,  no  doubt 
think  it  heaven.  Probably  it  is  to  them,  who  have 
never  seen  anything  else." 

It  was  thus  she  stigmatized  the  multitude  of  pret- 
ty girls  flocking  from  all  parts  of  the  country  to  the 
gayeties  of  the  place.  She  made  herself  as  elegantly 
severe  in  attire  as  possible,  by  contrast.  Murray 
Hill  looked  down  disdainfully  on  Capitol  Hill  and  all 
its  affiliations. 

Kingbolt    coincided,   as    a   newly    engaged    lover 


308  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

should,  in  most  opinions  that  she  chose  to  express. 
He  amused  himself,  during  his  expatriation,  with  an 
incidental  run  to  Baltimore,  where  he  knew  some 
pleasant  fellows  of  the  Maryland  Jockey  Club.  He 
picked  up  from  a  needy  inventor  banging  about  the 
Patent  Office  some  ingenious  new  device  in  tele- 
graphic communication,  which  be  set  about  having 
put  in  operation  between  his  house  and  stock-farm 
at  Kingboltsville.  He  proposed  to  Angelica  that  his 
yacht  should  be  brought  around  for  a  trip  to  Bermu- 
da ;  but  to  this  she  did  not  accede.  We  may  leave 
them  here  for  a  little,  and  return  to  New  York. 

The  Christmas  season  went  by.  Owing  to  the 
change  in  affairs,  there  was  not  the  amount  of  gay- 
ety  at  the  Harvey  mansion  as  proposed  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  season.  Mrs.  Harvey  took  Ottilie  about 
with  her  more  or  less  into  society.  She  wished  her 
companionship,  but  never  quite  let  her  lose  a  sense 
of  her  peculiar  situation.  Bainbridge  took  to  going 
out,  also,  to  places  where  there  was  a  likelihood  that 
he  should  meet  with  Ottilie.  There  were  by  no 
means  the  same  unconstrained  opportunities  for  see- 
ing her  at  the  house  as  before.  He  was  still  wheel- 
ing  round  the  circle  of  obstacles  by  which  he  seemed 
beset  without  finding  in  it  any  loophole  of  escape. 
Devious  Air-Line  recovered  the  point  or  two  it  had 
lost,  but  did  not  rise  above  the  purchase  price. 

Sometimes  Bainbridge  said  to  himself,  "  I  will  not 
marry  her,  for  my  own  sake."  That  was  his  selfish 
mood,  and  meant  that  he  desired  to  take  upon  him- 
self no  further  burdens. 

Again  he  said,  "  I  will  .iot  marry  her,  for  her  sake. 
Why  should  I  pull  her  down  ?  Have  I  not  well 
tested  my  capacity  and  prospects  ?     Without  me  she 


"LALAGE,  SWEETLY  SMILING,  SWEETLY  SPEAKING."     309 

stands  an  excellent  chance  to  be  prosperous  and 
happy." 

But  still  again  he  exclaimed  passionately,  "  I  will 
marry  her,  in  spite  of  everything !  " 

He  set  off  more  than  once  to  act  upon  this  impulse, 
but  either  did  not  find  Ottilie  when  he  would,  or  in 
her  presence  recovered  his  equanimity. 

Once  he  dropped  in  of  a  morning,  at  a  "  Shakes. 
pearean  reading  "  at  Chickering  Hall,  and  saw  her  in 
the  audience,  following  carefully  with  a  text  in  hei 
hand.  She  was  reaping  now  some  of  those  ''advan- 
tages "  of  the  metropolis,  of  which  she  had  had  sq 
exalted  an  idea.  He  knew  of  her  going  also  to  lee* 
tures  at  the  Academy  of  Design,  to  old  Dr.  John 
Jones's  sonorous  discourses  on  Reformers  and  Men  of 
Letters,  and  to  the  Rev.  Wayland  Howland  on  the 
Cathedrals  of  Europe,  illustrated  by  the  stereopticon. 

Bainbridge  contemplated  her  awhile,  at  the  Shakes- 
pearean reading,  from  a  vantage-ground  in  the  rear, 
and  went  away  without  having  made  his  presence 
known.  How  attractive  it  was  in  her  to  sink  her 
personal  comeliness,  —  which  many  others  would  have 
depended  upon  as  a  career  in  itself,  —  and  endeavor 
so  ambitiously  to  fill  her  pretty  head  with  mental 
furniture  !  It  was  a  pretty  head.  The  hair,  except 
a  tendril  or  two  which  escaped,  was  drawn  upward 
from  the  delicate  nape  of  her  neck.  One  smooth 
cheek  was  muffled  by  the  bows  of  her  bonnet.  The 
other,  with  long,  dark  eyelashes  projecting  from  it, 
showed  its  rounded  profile,  now  more,  now  less,  as 
she  turned. 

The  next  meeting  of  the  pair  was  at  an  afternoon 
reception,  or  four-o'clock  tea.  They  were  at  the  cor- 
ner of  a  door- way  and  each  held  and  tasted  in  a  dilet- 


310  THE   HOUSE    OF    A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

tante  way  a  cup  of  the  beverage  which  gave  the  en- 
tertainment its  name.  Bain  bridge  managed  at  the 
same  time  to  keep  his  hat  and  stick  under  his  arm. 
The  rooms  were  full  of  a  chattering  audience,  chiefly 
ladies,  in  elegant  street  toilettes.  These  drove  from 
one  to  another  of  a  number  of  similar  receptions,  in 
progress  at  the  same  time,  with  card-cases  in  their 
hands,  and  remained  but  a  few  moments  at  each. 

"  I  saw  you  at  Chickering  Hall,"  said  Bainbridge. 
"  you  are  always  giving  yourself  infinite  pains  about 
some  learned  thing  or  other.  You  know  more  now 
than  any  dozen  other  New  York  girls  put  together." 

"  Oh  !  oh  !  "  exclaimed  Ottilie,  scandalized. 
"  Very  well ;  if  you  call  it  learned  to  go  to  a  pan- 
orama, or  an  innocent  little  Shakespearean  reading, 
what  will  you  say  if  I  begin  to  talk  Herbert  Spencer 
and  Mill,  and  Tait's  researches  into  the  original  atoms 
of  matter?  " 

"  I  shall  say,  don't  do  it !  " 

"  They  are  in  the  shape  of  rings,  always  in  motion, 
as  if  contending  with  one  another,"  she  went  on 
archly. 

"The  researches,  or  the  atoms?  Well,"  in  re- 
sponse to  a  frown,  "  let  primordial  atoms  delight  to 
bark  and  bite,  if  't  is  their  nature  to  ;  but  that  is  no 
reason  why  we  should." 

"  At  any  rate,  persons  who  have  everything  to  gain 
and  nothing  to  lose  ought  to  be  ambitious,  and  learn 
all  they  can,  do  you  not  think  so  ?  "  Ottilie  insisted. 
tw  Besides,  I  shall  never  know  enough  to  hurt  me.  I 
sometimes  think  I  should  like  to  be  a  professor, — 
always  learning  something  important,  and  arousing 
an  interest  in  it  in  others." 

"  You   take  a  roseate  view  of  professors.     There 


.LALAGE,  SWEETLY  SMILING,  SWEETLY  SPEAKING."    311 

are  a  good  many  of  a  different  sort.  They  are  too 
often  chosen  from  the  class  of  learners  by  rote,  who 
never  have  known  what  a  genuine  enthusiasm  for 
scholarship  is.  That  kind  but  stifle  the  germs  of  it 
in  those  confided  to  their  care." 

"  A  professor,  after  all,"  he  concluded,  "  is  a  part 
of  the  machinery.  One  would  rather  be  a  finished 
specimen  of  the  product." 

It  happened  that  this  particular  four- o'clock  tea 
was  of  a  more  elaborate  sort  than  usual.  The  people 
by  whom  it  was  given  were  spoken  of  as  in  an  upper 
grade  of  "  stragglers."  They  still  thought  it  desira- 
ble to  commend  themselves  to  favor  b}'  a  lavish  expen- 
diture of  money,  which  would  not  be  necessary  later. 
The  display  was  commented  upon  with  an  admiration 
thinly  veiling  contempt,  by  those  who  would  not  have 
imitated  it.  Flowers  adorned  the  banisters  from  top 
to  bottom,  and  were  set  about  in  forms  of  tea-kettles, 
temples,  swans,  and  ships,  on  the  piano  and  other 
furniture.  Pretty  children,  costumed  as  flower-girls, 
presented  each  guest  at  his  entrance  a  choice  nosegay. 
A  flower-wreathed  silver  fountain  sprayed  into  the  air, 
instead  of  water,  a  delicate  perfumery. 

"  Do  you  know  that  this  is  not  orthodox  talk  for  a 
four-o'clock  tea  ?  "  said  Ottilie.  "  You  distract  one 
from  looking  about.  You  should  tell  me  how  very 
difficult  it  is  for  men  to  attend  affairs  of  this  kind, 
and  how  surprised  you  are  at  finding  yourself  here. 
You  should  say  that  men  have  not  the  gift  of  small 
talk,  you  know;  and,  if  inclined  to  be  humorous, 
that  it  is  really  very  dreadful  to  find  one's  self  in  such 
a  minority  among  the  fair  sex.  I  should  remark  that 
it  is  said  to  make  a  fatal  difference  in  a  cup  of  tea 
whether  the  milk  or  the  sugar  be  put  in  first.      4  Yes,' 


312  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

you  should  reply  ;  and  state  further  that  if  a  cup  of 
tea  be  not  perfect  at  the  first  mixing,  no  alteration 
can  make  it  so.  Meanwhile,  we  should  both  be  star- 
ing about  the  room,  thinking  whom  we  would  like  to 
join,  or  have  join  us,  next." 

"  So  you  are  spoiled  by  luxury  ?  "  Bainbridge  in- 
quired, going  back. 

"  I  suppose  I  am.  Still,  I  don't  know.  I  want  to 
see  a  specimen  of  everything ;  then  I  shall  decide 
which  I  like  best.  It  may  not  be  this  fashionable 
life,  after  all.  It  is  a  decadence,  I  fear.  These 
stories  of  the  flirtations  of  married  men  with  young 
girls,  and  men  with  other  men's  wives,  —  I  do  not 
believe  them,  of  course ;  but  it  shows  something 
wrong  that  they  get  the  currency  they  do." 

But  this  was  a  line  of  subjects  to  be  more  freely 
discussed  with  Mrs.  Clef,  for  instance. 

"  What  I  should  really  like  to  see,"  Ottilie  went 
on,  her  face  brightening,  "  is  literary  society.  I 
should  like  to  meet  the  people  whose  names  you  see 
in  the  papers,  authors,  artists,  who  discuss  things 
really  worth  while,  and  come  to  some  conclusion  about 
them.  The  bright  ones  in  this  fashionable  society 
say  sparkling,  audacious,  amusing  things,  but  that  is 
all.     Nothing  is  advanced,  nothing  settled." 

"  They  would  be  glad  to  have  a  niece  of  Rodman 
Harvey  at  the  places  where  the  people  you  speak  of 
assemble.  I  can  drop  Mr.  Stoneglass  a  hint,  down 
town.  I  know  his  wife  will  be  pleased  to  send  you 
an  invitation,  when  her  receptions  begin." 

"  Really  ?  Oh,  I  thought  it  would  be  very  diffi- 
cult. I  supposed  that  my  aunt,  not  being  literary, 
was  not  eligible.     I  had  never  dared  to  aspire  to  it." 

"  You  will  meet  people  whose  names  you    see  in 


"LALAGE,  SWEETLY  SMILING,  SWEETLY  SPEAKING."     313 

Che  papers,  but  you  will  find  very  little  settled,  my 
poor  child,  even  there.  This  is  not  a  world,  in  fact, 
where  much  is  settled.  Then  there  are  writers  from 
whom  one  had  expected  a  great  deal,  who  are  found 
to  have  told  in  their  books  all  they  know,  and  per- 
haps even  more.  You  get  nothing  further  from  them. 
Still,  having  entertained  us  in  print,  it  may  be  their 
privilege  to  be  as  dull  as  they  please  out  of  it." 

"But  what  will  they  think  of  me?"  said  Ottilie, 
shrinking  diffidently  from  the  idea  now  that  it  was  un- 
expectedly found  feasible. 

"  The  chief  condition  of  comfort  is  to  consider 
what  you  think  of  people,  not  what  they  think  of 
you.  I  dare  say,  however,  you  will  not  be  frightened. 
They  let  me  in.  To  tell  the  truth,  literary  lions  of 
the  first  magnitude  do  not  abound  in  New  York.  The 
best  of  them  do  not  always  turn  out  either,  and  when 
they  do  they  roar  but  gently.  The  field  is  left  a 
good  deal  to  the  minor  lights.  I  fear  you  will  be  dis- 
appointed." 

"  Oh,  no,  I  shall  not.  Anything  in  the  shape  of  a 
live  author  !  I  recollect  making  a  pilgrimage,  once, 
to  get  the  autograph  of  a  lady  writer  in  our  neigh- 
borhood, about  as  good  as  Mrs.  Anne  Arundel  Clum. 
We  high-school  girls  at  fifteen  used  to  think  she  was 
wonderful.  If  she  had  been  Sappho,  or  Madame  de 
Stael,  she  could  not  have  received  us  with  greater 
dignity." 

"  Yes,  Mrs.  Stoneglass,  on  the  whole,  will  be  the 
best  for  you,"  said  Bainbridge,  as  if  having  reflected 
on  the  several  places  available.  "  Stoneglass  has 
dined  with  your  uncle,  you  say,  and  that  will  make 
it  pleasanter.  He  edits  the  ;'  Meteor,"  and  his  wife 
writes  the  bright  Fanny  Copperplate  letters.     She  is 


814  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

better  known  than  he,  though  his  work  is  so  much 
more  substantial.  When  his  rivals  wish  to  be  ma- 
licious, they  speak  of  him  as  Mr.  Fanny  Copperplate 
Stoneglass.  The  entertainers  are  usually  persons 
wTho  themselves  dabble,  in  a  minor  way,  in  letters. 
The  right  one  to  hold  a  salon  of  the  traditional  sort 
has  hardly  yet  arisen.  She  should  be  appreciative 
and  intelligent,  of  easy  and  friendly  manners,  and 
surrounded  by  a  certain  degree  of  luxury.  She 
should  not  bore  people  with  a  small  literary  vanity 
of  her  own,  nor  have  axes  to  grind." 

"  When  will  Mrs.  Stoneglass'  receptions  begin  ?  " 

"  Some  little  time  from  now.  I  will  let  }^ou  know. 
They  will  probably  be  held  Sunday  nights,  as  usual." 

"Oh!  Sunday  nights?  We-11  "  —  said  Ottilie, 
hesitatingly. 

"  Yes  ;  another  of  our  imported  customs.  Sunday 
afternoons  and  evenings  are  coming  into  favor  for  a 
great  deal  of  quiet  sociability.  Actors  are  free  on 
Sunday  evening,  for  one  thing.  You  may  see  some 
leading  actors  at  Mrs.  Stoneglass'." 

Ottilie  fell  to  reviewing  the  fitness  of  her  mental 
equipment  for  meeting  this  formidable  company. 

"  I  read  so  little  now,  compared  with  what  I  used," 
she  said ;  "I  do  not  keep  up  at  all.  I  am  quite 
ashamed  of  myself." 

"  I,  too,  read  almost  nothing  of  late.  It  may  be 
that  as  life  becomes  more  interesting,  books  grow 
less  so,"  said  Bainbridge.  "  Perhaps  we  shall  read 
again  later  on,  to  contrast  our  own  experiences  with 
those  of  fiction.  I  have  had  the  last  new  novel  of 
Blank's  lying  in  my  room  for  a  fortnight,  and  not  yet 
touched  it.  I  hear  it  has  a  legal  plot.  I  wish  I 
knew  what  it  was  without  the  trouble  of  perusing 


"LALAGE,  SWEETLY  SMILING,  SWEETLY  SPEAKING."     315 

"Send  it  around  to  me;  I  will  read  it  for  you," 
volunteered  Ottilie. 

"  Take  care  !  It  is  too  tempting  an  offer.  I  may 
hold  you  to  it." 

"  I  am  not  at  all  afraid." 

He  sent  it  around  to  her,  in  fact.  At  another  meet- 
ing, not  long  after,  she  gave  him  a  concise  account 
of  the  story  in  a  way  which  would  hardly  have  done 
discredit  to  the  best  narrative  powers  of  Angelica,  or 
Madame  Batignolles-Clichy  herself. 

"  Do  you  know  it  was  very  nice  of  you  to  do 
that,"  said  Bainbridge,  holding  her  hand  a  moment 
longer  than  seemed  necessary,  as  she  gave  it  to  him 
for  good-by. 

"  Was  it  ?     Well,  I  am  glad  you  appreciate  it." 

She  looked  brightly  up  at  him  ;  but  somehow  her 
face  flushed  under  his  glance,  and  her  eyes  fell.  He 
hesitated  over  her  hand,  but  dropped  it  without  say- 
ing anything  further. 

Ottilie  permitted  herself  reveries  and  speculations 
on  the  basis  of  the  jealousy  to  which  Bainbridge  had 
confessed.  It  was  the  wildest  of  suppositions,  of 
course.  It  would  have  meant  that  their  association 
had  not  been  purely  platonic,  after  all,  and  nothing 
was  more  firmly  established.  But  supposing  now,  as 
a  mere  hypothesis,  that  he  really  could  like  her  in 
another  way,  he  was  the  kind  of  person  one  would 
be  rather  glad  to  marry.  His  looks  pleased  her  ;  she 
admitted  it.  He  was  manly-looking,  of  a  certain  dis- 
tinguished air;  people  would  be  apt  to  notice  him  in 
a  crowd. 

"  They  say  very  nice  things  of  him,  too,  in  contra- 
diction of  his  own  account  of  himself,"  she  went  on. 
"  Judge  Chippendale  praises  his  legal  acquirements, 


316  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

and  his  personal  courage  in  the  affair  with  the  shanty- 
tenants.  You  never  get  a  word  out  of  him,  though, 
on  the  subject.  He  is  more  serious  than  he  used 
to  be,  too,  —  almost  reasonable  enough  sometimes  for 
anybody.  I  knew  that  he  never  believed  his  own 
wild  theories.  It  was  only  his  way  of  talking.  How 
well  we  have  got  on  together !  How  sympathetic  and 
appreciative  he  is  with  me,  when  sympathy  has  been 
by  no  means  common  !  We  have  not  seemed  to  tire 
each  other ;  at  least  I  hope  I  have  not  tired  him. 
Whether  we  agree  or  disagree,  our  discussions  are 
equally  grateful." 

She  would  have  liked  to  do  something  very  warm 
and  affectionate  for  him,  —  as  for  a  dear  brother. 
Once  when  she  had  sat  down  to  write  letters  home, 
she  scribbled  almost  inadvertently  on  the  paper,  — 

Mr.  R.  Bainbridge.  .  .  .  Mrs.  Russell.  .  .  .Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Bainbridge.  .  .  .  Mrs.   Ottilie  Bain  — 

But  at  this  point  she  exclaimed,  "  Ridiculous  !  "  tore 
up  the  paper  hastily,  and  looked  over  her  shoulder 
in  blushing  alarm,  lest  by  any  chance  she  might  have 
been  observed. 

"  He  to  marry  a  poor  girl,"  she  went  on,  "  with 
his  tastes,  his  needs,  his  ambitions  !  If  such  a  one 
had  any  conscience  she  would  refuse  to  become  a 
burden  upon  him,  even  if  he  were  so  foolish  as  to 
ask  her.  He  should  have  the  best  wife  in  the  world. 
He  must  have  one  who  will  be  an  advantage  to  him, 
—  aid  him  to  rise,  not  draw  him  back." 

These  were  possibly  far-fetched  scruples,  but  such 
as  they  were,  they  were  those  of  Ottilie  Harvey. 

Ottilie  was  sometimes  taken  to  her  aunt's  box  at 
the  opera.  Bainbridge,  whose  relaxation  was  music, 
went  also,  in  a  more  modest  way.     He  could  see  that 


"LALAGE,  SWEETLY  SMILING,  SWEETLY  SPEAKING."    317 

the  same  class  of  fashionable  men  fluttered  about  the 
Harvey  box,  probably  by  force  of  habit,  as  when 
Angelica  had  been  there.  One  night,  of  a  number, 
he  sat  with  his  eyes  fixed  upon  Ottilie's  slight  figure, 
at  a  distance.  The  love  passages  on  the  stage  were 
of  unusual  tenderness.  He  heard  in  the  melodies,  the 
supplication,  and  pathos,  an  echo  of  his  own  affection. 
He  went  to  pay  his  respects  in  her  box.  The  opera- 
going  men  of  unexceptionable  good  form  were  there. 
Mrs.  Rodman  Harvey  was  saying  to  one  of  them,  in 
a  languid  tone,  — 

"  We  have  no  more  voices.  Grisi  and  Malibran 
were  the  last  of  the  giants.  The  light  style  of  sing- 
ing is  destroying  our  music." 

Bainbridge  found  Mr.  Northfleet,  of  the  Empire 
Club,  bending  over  Ottilie.  "  The  German  music  is 
more  bracing  and  tonic,"  he  overheard  him  say,  with 
an  elaborate,  languishing  air,  —  a  manner  that  had 
won  him  success  with  the  fair  sex  before  now,  — 
"  the  Italian  sweeter,  cloying,  if  you  will.  But  give 
me  the  sensuous  Italian  music,  after  all  !  There  are 
times  when  it  draws  you  out  of  yourself  ;  fills  you 
with  vague,  ineffable  longings." 

"  Like  going  through  Tiffany's  in  the  holiday  sea- 
son," returned  Ottilie,  with  her  luminous  smile. 
"Yes,  I  have  felt  that  way,  too." 

Thus  she  parried  the  sentimentality  of  these  per- 
sons, and  seemed  to  stand  less  in  awe  of  them  than 
formerly.  But  there  were  too  many  of  them.  Al- 
though no  aspirant  so  flagrant  as  he  had  taken  King- 
bolt to  be  appeared  in  the  field,  Bainbridge  no  longer 
knew  whom  not  to  dread,  whom  not  be  jealous  of. 

One  memorable  afternoon  he  was  passing  through 
the  "street  in  which  the  Hastings  family  resided.     It 


318  THE   HOUSE   OF  A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

abutted  at  the  Avenue  upon  the  massive  Egyptian 
reservoir.  The  shadows  had  already  begun  to  climb 
the  opposite  row  of  houses.  He  walked  on  the  shaded 
side,  but  was  presently  sensible  of  a  light  flashed  in 
his  eyes  from  across  the  way.  Looking  over,  he  saw 
that  it  was  the  mischievous  little  Hastings  children 
who  were  playing  him  this  trick  with  a  mirror  from 
an  upper  window.  They  replied  to  an  admonitory 
shake  of  his  forefinger  with  laughing  shrieks.  Ottilie 
Harvey  appeared  in  some  confusion  behind  them. 

"  I  have  been  looking  after  them  for  an  hour  or 
two,"  she  explained  to  Bainbridge,  holding  parley 
down  to  him  from  the  window,  "  while  my  friend 
Mrs.  Hastings  has  gone  after  a  new  nursemaid.  You 
will  not  think  much  of  my  discipline." 

At  the  instant  Mrs.  Hastings  herself  rolled  up. 
"  Are  you  planning  an  elopement,  or  is  it  only  a  ser- 
enade ?  "  she  asked  gayly,  alighting  from  her  coupe. 
14  Well,  come  in  !  I  will  help  you.  Perhaps  we  have 
a  rope-ladder  in  the  house.  You  must  stay  to  din- 
ner," she  insisted  hospitably.  "  We  need  somebody 
to  carve.  Mr.  Hastings  is  detained  down  town,  and 
will  not  be  at  home." 

Bainbridge,  not  unwillingly  entered  the  house  with 
her.  Ottilie  brought  the  children  down  to  the  parlor, 
and  made  many  apologies  for  their  bad  behavior. 
They  were  a  boy  and  a  girl,  charming  in  their  dainty 
attire  ;  a  little  over-boisterous  and  spoiled,  but  lovely 
to  the  height  of  the  ideal. 

At  the  dinner-table,  Bainbridge,  in  Mr.  Hastings' 
place,  had  quite  the  air  of  a  man  of  family.  A  par- 
rot, kept  on  a  stand  at  one  side  of  the  room,  was 
loosed  from  a  large  tin  cage,  at  dessert,  and  practiced 
the  feat  of  eating  a  grape  and  a  bit  of  sugar  from  his 


"LALAGE,  SWEETLY  SMILING,  SWEETLY  SPEAKING."     319 

mistress'  hand.  He  vouchsafed,  with  his  cold  air,  to 
come  also  to  Ottilie.  She  had  for  this  pet,  as  for, 
others,  an  abundant  stock  of  affectionate  murmurings 
and  cooings.  There  was  some  talk  on  matters  of 
cookery  between  her  and  the  hostess ;  not  of  the  epi- 
cure's sort,  but  such  as  good  housewives  indulge  in 
who  have  masculine  tastes  to  look  after,  and  feel  a 
due  sense  of  the  responsibility.  Mysterious  formulas 
of  "  two  of  flour,  one  of  saleratus,  and  one  of  sugar," 
Were  mentioned.     Ottilie  said,  — 

"  I  always  make  my  salad  dressings  with  cream  as 
well  as  oil." 

Mrs.  Hastings  was  busy,  it  appeared,  with  induct- 
ing the  new  nursemaid  into  the  duties  of  her  office, 
for  a  considerable  time  after  dinner,  and  our  two 
young  people  were  left  alone.  Ottilie  sat  down  at 
the  piano,  and  played  a  little,  ever  and  anon  turning 
back  to  talk. 

"I  have  been  this  morning  to  Harvey's  Terrace," 
she  said,  among  other  things,  "  and  have  heard  of  a 
case  which  distresses  me.  The  elderly  school-teacher, 
Miss  Finley,  who  went  away  to  live  with  the  pretty 
one,  her  friend,  married  from  there,  has  come  back  in 
a  pitiable  condition.  It  seems  that  she  let  Mr.  Cut- 
ler, the  man  her  friend  married,  have  her  money  — 
her  savings  of  years — to  invest,  and  cannot  get  it 
back.  Neither  can  she  get  any  interest.  The  young 
man  has  put  it  in  as  a  special  deposit  in  some  com- 
pany where  he  is  employed,  and  probably  lost  it. 
The  poor  girl  cannot  eat  nor  sleep.  She  may  lose  her 
place  in  school  also  ;  for  of  course  a  person  so  dis- 
tracted is  not  fit  to  teach." 

"  A  sad  case,  indeed,"  commented  Bainbridge.  He 
thought,  however,  quite  as  much  of  the  good  heart 


320  THE   HOUSE   OF   A  MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

and  charitable  energy  of  her  who  recited  it  as  of  the 
case  itself. 

"  I  want  my  uncle  to  do  something.  I  shall  men- 
tion it  to  him  the  next  time  he  comes  on  from  Wash- 
ington. The  young  man  was  formerly  in  his  store. 
Perhaps  he  can  force  him  or  his  employer,  in  some 
way,  to  restitution." 

The  traits  of  the  Hastings  infants,  in  another  turn 
of  the  conversation,  became  the  starting-point  for  an 
exchange  of  sagacious  views  on  education.  Baiu- 
bridge  alleged  that  the  method  of  training  of  most 
people,  his  own  at  any  rate,  was  wholly  indefensible. 

"  What  is  wanted,"  he  said,  "  is  a  scheme  of  educa- 
tion based  upon  the  scheme  of  an  international  exhi- 
bition. First,  the  primary  materials  ;  then  the  forces 
of  nature ;  then  the  forces  as  utilized  by  machinery ; 
then  the  products  of  machinery  ;  then  man  in  his 
history,  manners  and  customs,  governments,  and  fine 
arts.  The  chimera  of  study  for  the  mere  sake  of  men- 
tal discipline  should  be  discarded  ;  something  of  real 
interest  should  be  learned  at  the  same  time.  The  ele- 
ments of  the  various  branches  of  human  knowledge 
should  be  reduced  to  their  lowest  terms,  and  given  to 
the  child  at  a  very  early  age.  In  infancy  one  thing 
is  as  easy  as  another.  At  that  flexible  time  of  life 
everything  is  possible.  The  child  should  be  put  in 
possession  of  all  his  physical  powers,  too.  He  should 
make  the  most  of  his  arms,  legs,  eyes,  and  voice.  In- 
distinctness of  speech  should  not  be  tolerated ;  neither 
should  awkwardness  of  carriage.  With  proper  man- 
agement, the  eye  might  be  trained  so  that  drawing 
would  be  as  easy  as  writing.  It  should  be  a  mere 
matter  of  choice  whether  a  memorandum  were  made 
with  a  picture  or  a  paragraph." 


"LALAGE,  SWEETLY  SMILING,  SWEETLY  SPEAKING."    321 

"  Oh,  indeed  ?  "  said  Ottilie. 

"Yes,"  the  theorist  went  on;  "the  child  should 
learn  geology,  botany,  and  natural  history,  and  get 
an  idea  of  the  artistic  beauty  in  common  forms  aud 
lights  and  shadows.  With  this,  he  would  have  some- 
thing to  amuse  his  walks  abroad.  He  would  be  kept 
from  the  mischief  traditionally  waiting  for  idle  hands 
and  vacant  minds." 

"But  with  all  that,"  said  Ottilie,  "you  would 
hurry  your  infant  into  an  early  grave.  Good  health 
is  of  much  more  importance." 

"  But  I  say  good  health,"  protested  the  young  man. 
"  I  say  physical  exercise,  the  more  the  better.  And 
only  the  broad,  simple  features  of  the  sciences  to  be 
given." 

"  That  is  all  very  well  for  Julius  Caesars  and  Napo- 
leons and  Admirable  Crichtons,  who  can  do  fifty  dif- 
ferent things  at  once,  but  you  will  kill  the  child," 
insisted  Ottilie  perversely. 

There  was  a  certain  penetrating  feeling  of  domes- 
ticity in  their  situation.  By  a  little  stretch  of  the 
imagination  it  might  have  been  they  who  were  at 
home,  and  Mrs.  Hastings  their  guest.  They  com- 
mented with  favor  on  the  small  house,  abounding 
with  evidences  of  a  refined  taste. 

"  But  I  thought  you  cared  for  nothing  on  so  mod- 
est a  scale,"  said  Ottilie ;  "  though  an  establishment 
like  this  is  expensive  enough,  goodness  knows.  I 
recollect  your  scoffing  at  the  idea  of  any  residence 
smaller  than  the  Custom  House,  or  Saint  Peter's  at 
Rome." 

But  nothing  was  more  to  Bainbridge's  taste  at 
this  time  than  details  of  economy,  accounts  of  cheap 

21 


322  THE  HOUSE   OF  A  MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

rents,  of  making  much  of  slender  incomes,  and  the 
like. 

u  I  suppose  persons  might  do  with  less  if  they 
really  loved  each  other,"  he  said. 

"  If  they  really  loved  each  other,"  said  Ottilie,  in 
a  dreamy  voice,  and  with  half-averted  head,  "  per- 
haps they  would  think  very  little  of  their  circum- 
stances. Nothing  that  they  could  do,  no  surrounding 
of  their  lives,  could  seem  tame  or  commonplace." 

Bainbridge  was  standing  by  her  at  the  piano,  osten- 
sibly for  the  purpose  of  turning  the  music.  His 
heart  throbbed  so,  upon  this,  that  he  thought  she 
could  hear  it.  "  I  must  speak.  I  will,"  he  said  to 
himself.  He  walked  to  a  small  table  near  the  centre 
of  the  room,  perhaps  to  collect  his  ideas.  The  even- 
ing paper,  carelessly  thrown  there,  lay  before  him. 
His  eye  fell  upon  a  line  of  it  which  stood  out  with  a 
startling  distinctness. 

There  had  been  a  flurry  in  Wall  Street,  and  De- 
vious Air-Line  had  fallen  five  per  cent.  He  took  his 
hat,  and  left  the  house. 

The  next  day  the  flurry  in  Wall  Street  continued. 
The  omen  for  which  he  had  been  waiting  declared  it- 
self. His  poor  "  margin  "  was  wiped  out,  and  he  was 
left,  besides,  a  debtor  for  the  sum  he  had  borrowed. 

"  Better  luck  next  time!  "  his  broker  cried  to  him, 
cheerfully,  as  he  hurried  away  from  the  conclusion  of 
the  transaction  with  a  face  of  deep  despair.  It  was 
so  marked  that  Judge  Chippendale,  meeting  him, 
noticed  it,  and  had  the  story  from  him,  in  the  first 
unguarded  moments  of  his  agitation.  "  Nothing 
wonderful  about  that,"  said  the  judge,  with  but  a 
scant  sympathy.  "It  is  out  of  just  such  persons  as 
you  that  Wall  Street  lives.     Better  have  the  expe- 


"LALAGE,  SWEETLY  SMILING,  SWEETLY  SPEAKING."    323 

rience  now,  while  you  are  young,  than  later.  It  will 
be  money  in  your  pocket,  in  the  end.  If  you  had 
succeeded,  you  would  have  come  to  the  same  result 
later  in  life,  when  you  could  not  have  stood  it  as 
well." 

So  they  could  afford  to  talk  to  him,  they  who  had 
not  lost,  they  who  knew  nothing  of  his  hopes,  noth- 
ing of  the  disappointments  of  his  past  life.  He 
rushed  up  to  his  office  to  be  alone.  Ah,  yes,  he  was 
young.  He  set  to  work  to  eradicate  this  idle  pas- 
sion of  love  from  his  heart.  As  a  philosopher  and 
man  of  experience,  he  knew  that  it  could  be  done. 
He  knew  that  its  growth  was  a  matter  of  proximity, 
habit,  repetition  of  charming  impressions,  and  that  it 
could  be  diminished,  and  made  to  disappear,  by  ab- 
stinence from  the  food  on  which  it  had  fed.  No 
doubt  the  requisite  period  of  time  could  be  definitely 
calculated.  He  had  early  acquired  a  dreary  kind 
of  knowledge.  He  knew  that  men  may  survive  in  a 
calloused  way,  the  keenest  of  agitations,  till  these 
pass  away,  and  become  as  a  dream  ;  and  that  happi- 
ness is  not  necessarily  put  down  in  the  programmes 
of  all  of  us,  desperately  though  we  may  strive  and 
agonize  for  it. 

He  determined  to  go  a  journey.  As  he  was  shut- 
ting up  his  office,  Mr.  Fletcher  St.  Hill,  who  had 
moved  nearer  to  his  vicinity  of  late,  accosted  him. 

u  Oh,  by' the  way,"  said  St.  Hill,  "  I  dare  say  you 
can  tell  me  where  to  find  a  person  by  the  name  of 
Gammage  ;  a  respectable  old  gentleman,  you  know, 
who  formerly  did  some  light  work  for  me.  If  I  knew 
of  his  whereabouts  I  could  give  him  a  job  of  copy- 
ing. 

"  He  is  not  in  the  city.  He  is  up  in  the  country 
somewhere." 


324  THE  HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

"  I  should  not  mind  paying  his  expenses  to  town, 
if  I  could  find  him,"  said  the  inquirer,  with  an  eager- 
ness not  wholly  suppressed. 

"  I  really  cannot  help  you.  I  do  not  know  where 
he  is,"  responded  Bainbridge,  coldly. 

This  was,  in  fact,  true.  The  person  with  whom 
Gammage  had  last  lodged,  among  the  farmers  of 
Westchester,  had  brought  Bainbridge  an  account  of 
the  old  clerk's  doings  there,  and  reported  that  he  had 
taken  a  small  agency  of  some  kind,  and  disappeared 
from  view.  He  had  gone  back  into  the  remote  in- 
terior, this  informant  said,  to  a  considerable  remove 
from  the  lines  of  railroad,  and  not  returned. 

Some  little  time  after,  on  his  return  from  his  jour- 
ney, our  young  attorney  saw  Gammage  advertised 
for  in  a  "  personal,"  over  the  office  address,  and  ap- 
parently the  initials,  of  Sprowle  Onderdonk.  As 
neither  St.  Hill  nor  Onderdonk  would  be  likely  to 
want  the  broken-down  teller  of  the  Antarctic  Bank 
for  his  own  merits,  Bainbridge  could  but  suspect 
some  purpose  to  annoy  Rodman  Harvey  by  means  of 
him.  They  were  moving,  then,  in  that  matter?  He 
was  very  sorry,  not  for  Harvey's  sake,  but  Ottilie's, 
though  he  was  trying  so  hard  to  forget  her.  Noth- 
ing was  to  be  done,  however.  He  only  trusted  that 
Gammage  had  retired  so  far  as  to  be  permanently 
beyond  their  reach. 

Bainbridge's  journey  was  into  Central  Pennsyl- 
vania, where  he  took  in  person  some  collections  con- 
fided to  his  care.  On  his  way  back  he  fell  in  with 
Emily  Rawson,  on  the  same  train,  and  they  traveled 
a  part  of  the  way  together.  This  led  to  a  renewal  of 
their  intimacy.  He  wanted  distraction.  As  well 
take  such  as  she  could  furnish,  he  said,  as  any  other  J 


"LALAGE,  SWEETLY  SMILING,  SWEETLY  SPEAKING."     325 

He  was  not  likely,  at  any  rate,  to  meet  Ottilie  there. 
His  steps  almost  drew  him  perforce,  when  he  set  out 
on  his  walks,  in  the  direction  of  poor  Ottilie,  now 
again  cruelly  neglected,  but  he  resisted  the  impulse. 

The  sympathy  of  Emily  Rawson,  although  she  could 
have  at  present  but  a  dim  idea  of  what  she  was  sym- 
pathizing with,  was  grateful.  She  had  him  "  smoke 
to  her  "  again,  and  play  his  violin  in  accompaniment 
to  her  piano.  How  they  philosophized  now,  more 
than  ever,  on  the  elusiveness  of  happiness,  the  unsat- 
isfactoriness  of  life  !  Why  could  he  not  like  her  ?  he 
asked  himself.  She  was  made  to  be  liked.  She  was 
womanly,  accomplished,  tender,  restful.  Her  expe- 
rience gave  her  an  added  charm.  He  could  find  no 
fault  in  her  but  that,  perhaps,  of  liking  him  a  little 
too  well. 

One  evening  at  the  piano,  without  any  ostensible 
cause,  she  let  her  head  fall  upon  her  hands,  and  wept. 
Bainbridge  tried  to  soothe  her.  He  asked,  solicitous- 
ly, "  Oh,  why  ?  What  does  it  mean  ?"  She  replied 
that  it  was  but  a  nervous  mood,  and  meant  nothing. 

Weakened,  unstrung,  by  a  purely  physical  impulse, 
he  had  well-nigh  offered  himself  to  her,  —  though  not 
for  one  moment  forgetting  Ottilie,  —  and  added  this 
new  feature  to  his  complications. 


XXL 

BY  FAR  LESS  FAVORABLE  TO  THE  PLATONIC  THEORY. 

When  Bainbridge  had  not  appeared  for  some  time, 
Ottilie  grew  vaguely  restless. 

After  the  events  last  narrated  she  indulged  in  an 
unusual  amount  of  day-dreaming  about  him.  How 
warmly  he  had  bent  over  her  that  evening  at  Mrs. 
Hastings'  !  How  the  charming  domesticity  of  that 
occasion  had  appeared  to  take  hold  upon  him  also ! 
What  had  he  been  intending  to  say  to  her  ?  What 
had  he  had  in  mind  to  say,  too,  that  other  evening 
after  she  had  read  the  book  for  him,  and  he  had 
stammered  over  her  hand,  in  thanking  her  for  it? 
She  was  almost  afraid  of  the  next  meeting.  The 
idea  of  it  made  her  heart  throb  faster. 

Ah,  if  he  might  care  for  her !  If  it  might  come 
about,  in  some  improbable  way,  she  knew  not  how, 
that  they  could  always  remain  together !  In  the 
gravity  of  her  twenty-one  years,  she  endeavored  to 
lift  the  veil  of  the  future.  Without  Bainbridge  in 
the  foreground  it  all  wore  a  very  chilly  look.  She 
had  before  her  a  useful  career,  duties  to  many  and  to 
herself ;  she  had  not  the  slightest  right  to  count  upon 
him,  and  there  are  so  many  other  matters  than  those 
of  sentiment  for  a  well- regulated  person,  such  as  she 
desired  to  be,  to  think  of. 

Still,  a  natural  bias  towards  romance,  strong  within 
her,  was  yet  unsubdued.     She  dreamed  what  young 


BY  FAR  LESS  FAVORABLE  TO  THE  PLATONIC  THEORY.  327 

girls,  and  at  some  time  all  good  women,  dream  —  of 
a  strong  protecting  arm  to  shield  her  from  the  hard- 
ships of  the  world  ;  a  person  to  whom  she  could  look 
up  with  reverence,  and  yet  whom  she  knew  that  on 
occasion  she  could  twist  about  the  smallest  of  her  fin- 
gers. He  should  be  so  misguided  as  to  think  her  an 
adorable  person,  even  if  few  others  did.  He  was  to 
go  in  and  out  about  his  affairs  every  day  from  a  home 
and  fireside  which  she  was  to  regulate  at  her  own 
sweet  will,  like  her  doll's  house  in  childhood.  All 
this  moved  in  a  fluttering  way  through  her  fancy. 
She  could  conceive  of  but  one  figure  that  fitted  into 
her  pictures  of  domestic  happiness. 

He  did  not  come,  however.  She  missed  him 
greatly.  It  could  not  be  that  he  was  engrossed  with 
more  important  affairs,  for  she  heard  of  him  else- 
where. She  knew  of  his  going  to  Miss  Rawson's, 
from  the  information  of  that  lady  herself,  who  came 
to  call  on  her.  Miss  Rawson  spoke  of  the  Hasbrouck 
girls,  and  renewed  in  Ottilie  something  like  a  pang  of 
self-reproach,  as  if  it  had  been  treachery  on  her  part 
that  she  had  not  been  able  to  do  anything  for  them. 

Then  the  visitor  chattered  about  Bainbridge.  She 
dwelt  upon  his  charming  qualities.  "  I  see  him  now 
constantly,"  she  said,  watching  the  effect  upon  Otti- 
lie, "  though  he  at  one  time  almost  gave  me  up." 

She  took  out  programmes  of  some  private  theatri- 
cals, in  which  his  name  was  prominently  set  down. 
They  were  to  be  given  at  her  house.  She  begged 
that  Ottilie  would  come. 

"  Girls  love  to  have  the  man  in  whom  they  invest 
their  vanities  admired,"  says  the  tranquil  Coventry 
Pat  more. 

Probably  nothing  is  truer,  but  it  is  not  in  this  way, 


828  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

with  these  dangerous  airs  of  proprietorship.  Ottilie 
tortured  herself  with  the  idea  that  it  might  be  Emily 
Rawson  who  was  the  cause  of  her  troubles.  She 
cried  over  it  after  the  visitor  had  gone,  but  then  res- 
olutely put  the  feeling  down :  "  I  ivill  not  be  so 
silly,"  she  declared  to  herself. 

Recollecting  what  had  happened  before,  she  wrote 
to  Bainbridge,  making  some  pretext  for  him  to  come  ; 
but  he  declined.  Still,  his  reasons  for  doing  so  were 
plausible,  and  had  not  the  air  of  being  trumped  up. 

Then,  one  day,  Bainbridge  left  a  formal  card  at  the 
door  without  inquiring  for  her.  She  was  really  at 
home,  and  he  had  not  tried  to  find  her.  It  seemed 
terribly  significant.  She  thought  herself  definitely 
abandoned. 

Shortly  after,  they  met  at  one  of  Mrs.  Clef's  musi- 
cales,  to  which  Ottilie  was  asked  for  the  first  time. 
Emily  Rawson  was  there  and  played  selections,  as  on 
a  former  occasion.  Bainbridge  paid  her  much  atten- 
tion. It  was  done  with  a  purpose,  though,  we  may 
confess  for  him,  it  almost  broke  his  heart.  He  was 
in  the  midst  of  his  manful  effort  to  put  his  passion 
down,  and  deal  with  himself  on  philosophic  princi- 
ples. 

He  conducted  himself  towards  Ottilie  with  an  elab- 
orate courtesy. 

"  This  New  York  of  ours  is  such  an  enormous  place," 
he  said,  "  that  it  defeats  itself.  One  deprives  himself 
of  great  pleasure,  and  is  in  danger  of  losing  valued 
acquaintances,  through  the  sheer  impossibility  of  get- 
ting about." 

"  I  thought  perhaps  it  might  be  another  —  miscon- 
ception," said  Ottilie,  bravely,  —  "something  that 
might  need  to  be  explained." 


BY  FAR  LESS  FAVORABLE  TO  THE  PLATONIC  THEORY.  329 

She  made  this  essay  from  a  sense  of  duty,  with  a 
timid  little  air  of  uttering  a  pleasantry.  Bearing  in 
mind  the  needlessness  of  their  former  misunderstand- 
ing, she  did  not  think  it  right  that  this  opportunity 
should  be  allowed  to  pass,  even  if  the  overture  must 
come  from  herself. 

She  saw  an  agitated  expression  overspread  the 
countenance  of  the  young  man,  and  felt  that  he  but 
left  her  the  quicker  for  the  attempted  explanation. 

Presently  Miss  Rawson  said  to  her,  "  Do  you  know, 
this  is  the  very  place  where  I  first  heard  of  you? 
Mr.  Bainbridge  gave  me  such  an  entertaining  ac- 
count, the  evening  of  the  day  he  met  you  at  your 
uncle's  store.  We  sympathized  at  your  peculiar 
situation." 

They  had  sympathized  over  her  together,  then  ! 
She  had  afforded  them  entertainment !  They  had 
had  this  good  understanding,  then,  long  before  she 
was  ever  heard  of  !  Ah,  what  a  poor,  inconsequen- 
tial person  she  was  ! 

With  bitter  pangs  of  jealousy  she  persuaded  her- 
self that  this  was  the  key  to  the  enigma,  this  the  fatal 
rivalry  in  which  the  destruction  of  her  own  happiness 
was  involved. 

"  In  Emily  Rawson  are  united,"  she  said,  "most  of 
the  traits  of  which  he  is  in  search.  Her  accomplish- 
ments, her  fortune,  her  knowledge  of  the  world,  her 
interest  in  purely  mundane  things,  her  sprightliness 
and  intelligence,  would  all  attract  him.  As  likely  as 
not  there  was  something  between  them  before  I  came. 
Perhaps  I  was  but  a  stop-gap,  a  light  distraction  dur- 
ing some  interval,  some  lover's  quarrel." 

She  made  herself  miserable  with  this  notion,  though 
trying  all  the  while  to  repudiate  it.     "  If  he  has  used 


330  THE   HOUSE   OF  A  MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

me  as  a  pastime,  oh,  it  was  cruel,  it  was  unworthy," 
she  said,  bristling  with  a  certain  fierceness,  "and  I 
ought  to  hate  him  !  " 

Then  she  recalled,  to  do  him  justice,  that  he  had  ad- 
dressed her  no  word  of  love,  further  than  might  be 
contained  in  his  slight  pretense  of  jealousy  of  King- 
bolt. On  the  contrary,  he  had  advised  and  enjoined 
her  to  marry  on  the  same  mercenary  basis  that  he 
professed  himself. 

The  days  passed,  and  still  he  did  not  come.  The 
young  girl  grew  paler  and  thinner.  Her  aunt  as- 
cribed the  deterioration  to  the  languor  of  the  spring, 
which  was  now  again  at  hand.  Mrs.  Rodman  Har- 
vey had  little  time,  however,  for  close  observation  of 
persons  of  minor  importance.  Her  hands  were  full 
of  the  wedding  of  her  daughter,  for  which  the  date 
had  been  set  and  the  preparations  were  actively  in 
progress. 

Ottilie  had  fits  of  weeping.  At  times  the  sense  of 
loss  gave  her  intolerable  pain.  She  could  not  con- 
ceive the  possibility  that  any  other  person  could  ever 
fill  the  place  of  Bainbridge,  or  her  feeling  towards 
him  abate. 

She  had  a  wild  impulse  to  write  to  him  and  pour 
out  her  affection  in  unmeasured  terms.  Could  women 
never  rise  to  that  ?  Was  there  nothing  better  than 
cold  convention  and  usage?  Perhaps  if  he  only 
knew  how  much,  how  much,  she  loved  him,  it  might 
awaken  in  him  —  it  might  palliate  the  unheard-of 
effrontery.  Was  there  no  sacrifice,  no  heroic  evi- 
dence of  her  affection  that  she  could  devise?  Only  to 
let  him  know  of  its  depth  and  unselfishness,  then  to 
retire  forever  from  his  sight,  —  there  seemed  a  certain 
ideal,  and  desperate  hope  of  satisfaction  even  in  this. 


BY  FAR  LESS  FAVORABLE  TO  THE  PLATONIC  THEORY.     331 

Must  her  heart  break  in  silence  ?  She  recalled  the 
case  of  one  Clare  La  Salle,  of  Lone  Tree,  whose  de- 
fiance of  public  opinion,  and  infatuation  for  a  lover 
against  the  opposition  of  her  parents,  had  seemed  to 
her  at  the  time  most  indelicate  and  shocking.  She 
felt  a  tenderness  for  this  misguided  girl  now,  and 
almost  counted  herself  in  the  same  category. 

She  did  not,  however,  write  to  Bainbridge  that  she 
could  not  live  without  him,  being  aided  to  resist,  no 
doubt,  by  the  strength  of  the  popular  prejudice 
against  such  conduct.  Nor  did  she  take  any  other 
step  overpassing  the  strictest  bounds  of  maidenly  pro- 
priety. These  little  dramas  are  played  out  in  silence, 
the  anguish  lived  down.  They  have  their  few  inco- 
herent moments  of  manifestation  in  solitude,  in  fevers, 
and  in  dreams.  Ottilie  wept,  and,  rising  sometimes 
to  look  at  her  flushed  face  and  swollen  eyes  in  the 
mirror,  said :  — 

"  I  am  a  shameless,  disgraceful  girl." 

The  invitations  to  Mrs.  Stoneglass'  literary  recep- 
tions had  been  sent  her  (on  a  hint  given  by  Bain- 
bridge to  that  hospitable  lady)  and  declined.  She 
no  longer  felt  in  a  mood  for  this  diversion.  One 
evening  Mr.  Stoneglass  called,  to  offer  an  invitation 
in  person. 

"  We  have  feared,"  he  said,  "  that  you  have  not 
cared  to  come,  on  account  of  Sunday  evening.  We 
have  a  number  of  church-going  friends  who  feel  in 
the  same  way.  Still,  it  is  the  most  convenient  on 
several  accounts,  and  with  our  way  of  thinking  we 
cannot  see  any  harm  in  it.  We  are  to  have,  however, 
the  well-known  authoress,  Mrs.  Jane  Claxton  Shafts- 
bury,  of  Boston,  on  Thursday  of  this  week,  and  hope 
that  you  will  come  then.     You  will  be  sure  to  see 


332  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

there  a  few,  at  least,  whom  you  know,  and  Mrs. 
Stoneglass  and  myself  will  look  after  you  to  the  best 
of  our  ability." 

"  I  used  to  read  the  books  of  Mrs.  Jane  Claxton 
Shaftsbury  in  childhood,"  replied  Ottilie,  "  and  should 
consider  it  an  honor  to  meet  her.  I  shall  be  very 
glad  to  go,  I  am  sure." 

It  would  have  been  rudeness,  she  thought,  to  de- 
cline further.  At  one  time  she  would  have  hailed 
such  an  opportunity  with  delight. 

As  the  guest  went  down  the  steps,  she  stood  a  mo- 
ment, pensively,  at  the  window,  leaning  her  forehead 
against  the  sash.  It  was  a  warm,  damp  evening,  and 
the  window  had  been  raised,  to  cool  the  room,  still 
kept  at  winter  heat  by  the  inexorable  self-acting  fur- 
nace. Ottilie  saw  a  dilapidated  figure  slouch  out 
from  under  a  lamp-post,  and  accost  Stoneglass,  appar- 
ently asking  alms.  Being  repulsed,  for  vagrants  of 
the  kind  were  a  common  annoyance  on  the  Avenue, 
it  went  back  into  the  darkness. 

Presently,  as  she  was  turning  away,  there  came  by 
another  form,  the  outlines  of  which  made  her  heart 
momentarily  stand  still,  then  throb  the  faster.  It  was 
Bainbridge.  The  vagrant  again  came  forth.  It  could 
be  seen  that  he  had  a  fine  and  venerable  head.  He 
put  his  hand  on  the  arm  of  Bainbridge,  and  as  the 
young  man  would  have  shaken  him  off  in  disgust,  be- 
sought, in  a  voice,  part  whistle  and  part  croak,  — 

"  Do  something  for  me,  Mr.  Bainbridge,  for 
Heaven's  sake  !  The  price  of  a  night's  lodgin'  !  You 
was  the  only  one  that  kep1  me  up.  You  was  the  one. 
You"  — 

"  Gam  mage  !  Here  ?  "  exclaimed  the  young  man, 
with  a  start  of  vivid  surprise  and  concern. 


BY  FAR  LESS  FAVORABLE  TO  THE  PLATONIC  THEORY.  333 

"  They  av  —  avertised  for  me,"  said  the  respecta- 
ble wreck,  whimpering.  "  I  had  money,  —  plenty  o' 
money.  I  don't  know  where  I  've  been.  I  must  ha' 
got  astray.  Do  something  for  me,  for  Gor  A'mighty's 
sake!" 

"  What  can  I  do  for  you,  Gammage  ?  What  can 
anybody  do  for  you  in  this  condition  ?  Do  you  know 
where  to  go,  if  I  give  you  the  price  of  a  night's  lodg- 
ing ?  " 

"No,  I  do  not,  —  1  do  not.  Come  !  "  cried  the  man 
with  a  desperate  air  of  revolt  and  loathing  at  his  own 
lost  condition. 

"  Then  what  can  I  do  with  you,  except  to  get  you 
locked  up  ?  Say  yourself,  Gammage  !  Now,  is  there 
anything  else  possible  ?  " 

"  Don't  do  it,  Mr.  Bainbridge,  —  don't  do  that ! 
You  was  the  only  one  —  Your  mother  was  the  no- 
blest —     Your  father  used  to  "  — 

"  Yes,  yes,  I  know  ;  but  that  was  when  you  had  a 
house  of  your  own  to  be  taken  to,  and  an  affectionate 
family,  and  a  position  in  the  world.  But  now  what 
are  you? — Had  they  business  for  you,  the  persons 
who  advertised  ?  "  he  inquired  under  the  stimulus  of 
a  new  thought.  "  What  did  they  want  you  to  do  ?  " 
He  lowered  his  voice  solicitously,  for  it  was  in  front 
of  the  house  of  Rodman  Harvey  himself  that  they 
found  themselves. 

"Mr.  Onderdonk  and  Mr.  St.  Hill?  yes,  they 
wanted  me.  I  signed  an  affidavit  for  them.  It  was 
an  old  matter,  —  a  matter  that  took  place  many  years 
ago." 

"  Great  heavens  !  Not  that  —  that  bank  story  in- 
volving Rodman  Harvey,  —  the  one  you  told  me  at 
my  office?  "  cried  Bainbridge,  with  a  gesture  of  repul- 
sion and  dismay. 


334  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

"  I  never  signed  anything  but  the  truth,"  answered 
the  ex-bank  teller,  partially  sobered,  and  resenting 
any  attachment  of  blame  to  himself. 

A  hack  came  by  at  this  moment.  Bainbridge  sum- 
moned the  driver,  who  was  waving  his  whip  in  the 
air  in  an  inviting  way,  and,  entering  with  his  protege, 
drove  off. 

Ottilie  had  heard  all.  She  had  dwelt  dreamily,  at 
first,  upon  the  figure  of  Bainbridge,  acquired  this  new 
evidence  of  his  goodness  of  heart,  then  awakened 
with  affright  to  the  subject-matter  of  the  discourse. 

"It  is  this,  too! "  she  exclaimed,  finding  a  new  and 
powerful  reason  to  explain  the  defection  of  Bain- 
bridge. u  Oh,  I  fear  it  is  this  !  He  knows  of  some- 
thing to  our  detriment,  and  withdraws  in  time,  before 
the  blow  has  fallen.  He  will  not  connect  himself  with 
disgrace  and  downfall.  Oh,  if  I  could  but  warn  my 
uncle." 

But  it  was  hardly  a  subject  on  which  she  could 
write  to  her  uncle.  Nor,  when  he  returned  from 
Washington,  did  she  feel  free  to  speak  to  him  about 
it.  This  was  his  last  visit,  too,  preceding  that  when 
he  would  come  to  attend  his  daughter's  wedding. 
Ottilie  had  found  her  uncle  just  and  considerate  be- 
yond her  expectations.  If  misfortune  were  in  store, 
it  seemed  her  duty  to  offer  him  the  solace  of  her  pres- 
ence and  sympathy.  If  any  unlawful  act  could  be 
laid  at  his  door,  she  was  sure  it  could  only  have  been 
done  in  one  of  those  moments  of  overwhelming  press- 
ure of  which  he  had  sometimes  spoken,  in  his  com- 
ments on  the  fall  of  his  contemporaries.  She  would 
not  believe  that  he  could  ever  have  been  a  corrupt  or 
hardened  character. 

There  was  no  alleviation  for  her  varied  wretched- 


BY  FAR  LESS  FAVORABLE  TO  THE  PLATONIC  THEORY.  335 

ness.  Cold  tremors  of  apprehension  mingled  with 
her  tears  of  despondency  on  her  own  account,  as  sud- 
den snow-flakes  whirl  down  amid  the  rain. 

The  course  of  events  may  now  be  somewhat  rapidly 
advanced.  The  Sprowle  faction  had  got  upon  the 
track  of  an  old  story  against  Rodman  Harvey,  and  be- 
gun to  follow  it  up.  It  developed  in  importance  as 
the  investigation  proceeeded.  It  was  St.  Hill  who 
first  brought  it  in.  He  had  heard  it  in  a  vague  way 
from  some  one  who  adduced  the  builder  Jocelyn  as 
authority.  He  had  thought  it  worth  while  to  visit 
Jocelyn  ;  then  to  hunt  up  McFadd,  in  his  squalid  ten- 
ement house  in  the  vicinity  of  Harvey's  Terrace  ;  and 
then  to  take  steps  for  finding  Gammage,  who,  he  was 
chagrined  to  learn,  had  once  been  a  clerk  in  his  own 
employ. 

St.  Hill  was  quite  out  with  his  patron  Kingbolt 
now.  There  were  numerous  persons,  employees  and 
others,  who  were  speaking  about  his  Company  indig- 
nantly on  account  of  losses  through  it.  The  once 
brisk  Mr.  Cutler,  who  had  made  such  haste  to  em- 
brace the  "  desirable  opening  "  offered  him,  still  hung 
on  in  a  disconsolate  way  with  small  hopes  of  recover- 
ing either  his  arrears  of  salary  or  the  money  of  the 
unfortunate  Miss  Speller.  Through  the  mediation  of 
Ottilie  he  had  called  on  Rodman  Harvey,  and  laid  the 
case  before  him.  Affidavits  of  some  sort  were  drawn 
up  between  them,  but  there  wras  at  present  no  open 
manifestation.  The  merchant  prince,  still  in  quest  of 
his  post  as  secretary  of  the  treasury,  could  not  yet  af- 
ford to  attack,  or  even  allow  to  be  overthrown,  a  per- 
son who,  in  his  downfall,  might  retaliate  with  incon- 
venient disclosures. 


336  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

It  was  Sprowle  Onderdonk  who  took  the  leadership 
of  the  anti-Harvey  cabal,  and  figured,  instead  of  his 
more  timorous  cousin,  as  the  champion  of  the 
wounded  honor  of  his  family.  He  was  a  bold  and 
resolute  person,  endowed  with  abundant  administra- 
tive capacity.  He  scoffed  at  the  story  first  brought 
in  by  St.  Hill,  who  presented  it  with  an  air  of  ela- 
tion. 

"  A  very  timely  discovery  indeed  ! "  he  said. 
"  Why  did  n't  you  get  something  from  Herodotus  or 
Pliny  the  Elder  ?  And  a  choice  Falstaff's  brigade  of 
witnesses  you  have  to  sustain  it!  If  that  is  the  best 
you  can  do,  man,  you  had  better  turn  your  attention 
to  some  more  profitable  field  of  labor." 

Still,  the  idea,  for  want  of  a  better,  was  persevered 
in.  Gammage  was  discovered  and  his  affidavit  se- 
cured. The  advertisement  in  the  newspapers  had 
at  last  reached  him  in  his  seclusion.  He  ventured  to 
town,  was  well  paid  for  his  trouble,  and  fell  into  the 
condition  described. 

It  was  not  till  a  vastly  more  important  accession 
was  gained,  however,  in  the  person  of  Rodman  Har- 
vey's once  devoted  henchman,  Hackley,  that  the  case 
looked  really  promising.  The  theory  of  Bainbridge, 
that  revenge  is  not  a  modern  luxury,  and  finds  few 
opportunities  for  its  exercise  in  this  civilized  life  of 
ours,  bade  fair  to  be  overthrown. 

Rodman  Harvey,  at  Washington,  devoted  himself 
to  his  new  duties  with  his  accustomed  energy.  His 
opening  speech,  on  the  Currency  Question,  was  highly 
commended.  He  took  the  best  appartments  at  the 
Arlington  Hotel.  His  dignified  attitude  much  im- 
proved his  prospects  for  the  succession  to  the  secre- 
taryship of  the  treasuiy,  the  present  incumbent  of 


BY  FAR  LESS  FAVORABLE  TO  THE  PLATONIC  THEORY.  337 

which  continued  in  very  uncertain  health.  He  de- 
clined somewhat  in  physical  vigor.  He  was  a  hard- 
worked  man.  There  were  long  night  sessions  at  the 
Capitol,  where  the  ventilation  was  bad ;  and  he  had 
more  of  his  attacks  of  vertigo. 

He  was  harassed  also  at  this  time  by  escapades  on 
the  part  of  his  younger  son.  Rodman,  Jr.,  now  en- 
tered into  possession  of  the  desired  latch-key,  and 
a  Freshman  at  Columbia  College,  was  discovered  fig- 
uring, with  some  of  his  mates,  by  way  of  a  lark,  as  a 
"  supe  "  in  a  spectacular  drama  at  Xiblo's  Garden. 
He  revolted  against  the  severe  discipline  with  which 
this  act  was  visited  by  his  father,  left  the  parental 
roof,  and  remained  absent  for  several  days,  being 
lured  home  only  by  promise  of  forgiveness. 

The  elder  son,  Selkirk,  also  showed  disappointing 
traits.  On  the  eve  of  succeeding  to  the  principal 
place  in  the  new  partnership,  and  becoming  a  figure 
in  the  world  on  his  own  account,  he  begged  to  be  re- 
leased from  commercial  life  altogether.  He  made  the 
proposal  that  he  should  be  allowed  to  occupy  his 
time  with  his  books  and  bricabrac,  or  take  up  one  of 
the  arts  or  sciences,  as  had  been  done  by  young 
Blankenhorn,  in  somewhat  similar  circumstances. 
Rodman  Harvey  would  of  course  listen  to  no  such 
degenerate  idea. 

It  depressed  him  very  much,  however,  and  was  a 
cause  of  delaying  the  formation  of  the  new  partner- 
ship. Since  his  son,  who  should  have  been  its  prin- 
cipal promoter,  took  but  so  languid  an  interest,  a 
different  order  of  consideration  was  required,  and 
things  were  allowed  to  remain  for  a  while  as  they 
were.  This  was  very  unfortunate,  as  it  turned  out, 
since  it  resulted  in  a  disagreement  with  his  warm  ad- 

22 


338  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

herent  and  eulogist,  Hackley,  and  his  final  loss  and 
desertion  to  the  enemy. 

Hackley  was  incommoded  by  the  postponements 
and  demurrers.  His  factory  had  been  burned  behind 
him,  and  he  left  "  standing  in  the  gap,"  as  he  phrased 
it.  This,  however,  was  a  comparatively  small  matter. 
The  main  disagreement  was  about  the  capital  he 
was  to  put  in.  He  had  lost  his  factory,  and  this  was 
a  pretext  for  failure  to  contribute  the  amount  first 
agreed  upon.  He  confided,  however,  in  the  good  of- 
fices of  Rodman  Harvey  to  establish  him  in  his  proper 
place  in  the  new  firm ;  but  this  the  merchant  prince 
was  not  willing  to  do.  The  faithful  and  experienced 
Mr.  Minn,  he  said,  was  opposed  to  a  distribution  of 
rank  not  based  upon  proportionate  capital.  Nor 
would  he  credit  Hackley  with  a  part  of  his  own  capi- 
tal to  be  left  in  the  concern.  He  said,  in  a  testy 
mood,  that  business  and  sentiment  should  be  rigidly 
divorced,  and  the  having  conferred  favors  in  the  past 
constituted  no  obligation  to  go  on  conferring  them 
indefinitely, 

Correspondence  on  this  subject  extended  over  a 
considerable  time,  with  growing  bitterness.  Finally, 
Hackley,  in  an  injudicious  huff,  not  at  all  expecting 
to  be  taken  at  his  word,  repudiated  the  partnership 
and  Rodman  Harvey  altogether.  Being  really  taken 
at  his  word,  however,  he  sulked,  complained,  and 
spoke  of  himself  as  a  very  ill-used  person.  It  was 
now  that  he  fell  in  writh  the  hostile  cabal  in  the  per- 
son of  Sprowle  Onderdonk. 

The  meeting  was  brought  about  through  the  con- 
trivance of  the  latter,  who  at  an  opportune  moment 
sounded  Hackley  on  the  remote  transaction  with 
which  his  name,  as  well  as  Rodman  Harvey's,  was 


BY  FAR  LESS  FAVORABLE  TO  THE  PLATONIC  THEORY.     339 

connected.  Hackley  at  first  pooh-poohed  the  notion 
of  doing  anything  with  it. 

"  Oh,  my  dear  sir,  really !  "  he  protested,  as  if  it 
were  wholly  absurd.  "  He  is  too  strong  in  the  com- 
munity, you  know,  and  the  matter  is  so  very  old.  He 
is  at  the  President's  table  continually,  and  everybody 
knows  that  he  is  the  favorite  for  the  successorship  to 
the  portfolio  of  the  treasury  when  the  secretary  drops 
off." 

"So  much  the  better  reason,"  declared  Sprowle 
Onderdonk,  greatly  encouraged  to  find  his  informa- 
tion not  only  not  dissipated  into  thin  air  by  Hackley, 
but  confirmed  and  sustained.  "  He  is  going  down,  I 
tell  you.  He  is  going  to  be  smashed.  You  had  bet- 
ter be  with  us  than  against  us." 

The  pair  sat  on  one  of  the  benches  along  the  sides 
of  the  marble-paved  lobby  of  the  Fifth  Avenue  Ho- 
tel. Sprowle  Onderdonk  had  pushed  his  hat  back 
upon  his  head,  and  talked  with  an  earnest  and  reso- 
lute air.  They  spoke  of  General  Burlington,  for- 
merly president  of  the  Antarctic  Bank,  who  should 
have  even  a  fuller  knowledge  of  the  affair  than 
Hackley. 

"  It  is  strange,"  said  Hackley,  "  that  he  has  never 
cared  to  use  it,  often  as  he  has  been  opposed  to  Har- 
vey politically." 

w-  It  is  intelligible  enough,"  said  the  other,  set-king 
a  plausible  explanation.  "  Probably  he  did  not  wish 
.to  draw  attention  to  the  affair,  on  his  own  account. 
The  manager  of  a  financial  institution  never  likes  to 
admir  that  there  has  been  any  irregularity  in  it  un- 
der his  rSgime.  He  may  have  something  to  clear  up 
Limself  ;  not  criminality,  of  course,  but  perhaps  cul- 
pable carelessness.     I  have  taken  occasion  to  sound 


340  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

him  a  little  in  a  discreet  way,  but  have  drawn  noth- 
ing from  him." 

"  He  is  discretion  itself,  —  Burlington  is,"  com- 
mented Mr.  Hackley. 

"  At  the  same  time,"  said  the  other,  "  if  he  is  put 
on  the  stand,  he  will  tell  what  he  knows.  He  is 
straight  and  reliable,  I  think.  When  the  other  tes- 
timony is  all  in,  he  will  have  to  get  up  and  either 
confirm  or  deny  it ;  and  it  does  not  look  as  though 
there  were  going  to  be  very  much  denying." 

44  Oh,  there  would  be  no  use  in  going  into  court 
with  it,  and  putting  anybody  in  a  formal  witness 
box,"  protested  Hackley  :  "  that  would  hardly  do. 
The  matter  is  too  ancient,  and  must  be  outlawed  and 
doubly  outlawed  by  this  time." 

"  My  idea  exactly,"  said  Sprowle  Onderdonk.  "  Of 
course  not.  What  we  want  is  the  moral  effect  of  it. 
We  must  play  it  against  him  politically.  His  pres- 
eKt  situation  makes  him  excellent  game.  All  we 
want  now  is  a  fitting  opportunity,  and  I  have  one  in 
mind.  The  disclosure  should  be  d propos  of  some- 
thing. Harvey  will  come  on  from  Washington  in 
about  a  fortnight  to  attend  his  daughter's  wedding. 
He  has  promised  to  attend  at  the  same  time  the  an- 
nual meeting  of  the  Civic  Reform  Association,  which 
is  to  be  held  —  probably  at  this  hotel  —  two  days  be- 
fore. He  is  both  treasurer  and  first  director,  and 
has  to  make  his  report.  I  am  sure  he  will  come. 
If  he  should  not,  of  course  we  can  explode  the  thing 
in  the  newspapers." 

"  He  is  a  very  methodical  person.  I  dare  say  he 
will  come,"  said  Hackley,  with  a  ruminating  air. 

44  He  will  hardly  be  made  secretary  of  the  treas- 
ury before  that,  and  if  he  is  afterwards  I  shall  be 


BY  FAR  LESS  FAVORABLE  TO  THE  PLATONIC  THEORY.  341 

much  mistaken.  I  also  am  a  member  of  the  Civic 
Reform  Association.  I  shall  make  a  little  speech, 
and  give  the  Harvey s  a  souvenir,  by  way  of  a  wed- 
ding present,  that  they  will  be  likely  to  remember." 


XXII. 

AN  EVENING  IN  LITERARY   SOCIETY. 

The  Stoneglass  family  lived  in  a  comfortable 
house  of  the  English  basement  pattern,  at  a  consid- 
erable remove  westward  from  that  first  meridian  of 
respectability,  Fifth  Avenue. 

Ottilie  Harvey  presented  herself  there,  on  the 
evening  of  the  reception  to  Mrs.  Jane  Claxton  Shafts- 
bury,  accompanied  by  her  aunt's  maid,  who  was  to 
return  for  her  in  the  carriage.  The  lower  floor  of  the 
house  was  devoted  to  the  purpose  of  dressing-rooms 
for  either  sex.  The  guests  deposited  their  outer  cloth- 
ing in  neat  bundles  along  the  bank  before  plunging 
into  the  stream  of  social  gayety  above. 

Stoneglass  perceived  Ottilie  as  she  was  coming  up 
the  staircase,  went  to  meet  her,  and  brought  her  to 
his  wife,  who  received  her  affably. 

It  had  been  said  of  Mrs.  Jane  Claxton  Shaftsbury 
that  she  was  one  of  the  few  literary  persons  who 
knew  how  to  dress.  The  remark  was  that  of  the 
poetess,  Mrs.  Anne  Arundel  Clum,  who  by  no  means 
possessed  the  same  accomplishment,  though  she  may 
have  prided  herself  upon  it ;  but  this  did  not  pre- 
vent its  being  strictly  true.  Mrs.  Shnftsbury  really 
did  dress  very  well  indeed,  and  was  a  person,  besides, 
of  gracious  and  amiable  manners. 

Ottilie,  in  a  rather  dazed  way,  found  herself  pay- 
ing this  well-known  authoress  compliments  on  her 
writings. 


AN   EVENING   IN   LITERARY   SOCIETY.  343 

"You  must  have  heard  this  so  often,"  she  said, 
"  but  pray  have  patience  just  once  more  !  It  is  such 
an  unusual  opportunity  for  me.  — How  could  you  ever 
consent  to  make  Miriam's  Memoirs  so  short  ?  And 
oh,  why  did  you  not  let  Ernestine  marry  Eckford,  in 
4  Hearts  and  Hands'?" 

"  Did  you  really  care,  child  ? "  said  the  kindly 
celebrity.  "  These  are  our  rewards.  It  pleases  me 
so  much  to  think  I  interested  you." 

It  would  have  been  an  occasion  indeed  for  Ottilie 
could  she  have  controlled  the  mournful  feelings  by 
which  she  was  possessed.  What  material  for  a  letter 
to  her  early  friends  of  the  Lone  Tree  High  School, 
who  had  been  accustomed,  like  herself,  to  put  Mrs. 
Shaftsbury's  books  under  their  pillows  at  night ! 

She  was  escorted  about  the  room  by  Mr.  Stone- 
glass  and  others,  and  heard  fragments  of  a  great  va- 
riety of  conversations.  The  names  of  the  people 
were  very  often  mentioned  to  her  in  full.  They  had 
a  certain  important  air,  even  when  you  did  not  rec- 
ognize them.  You  seemed  always  on  the  point  of 
remembering  something  notable  they  had  done  which 
had  for  the  moment  escaped  you. 

Within  a  brief  space  of  time  she  had  met  a  mem- 
ber of  a  great  publishing  house  ;  Colonel  Bowsfield, 
the  South  American  traveler,  who  had  lectured  in 
the  Star  course  at  Lone  Tree  ;  Ringrose,  the  poet, 
whose  verses  she  had  pasted  into  her  serap-books  ; 
Professor  Brown,  whose  specialty  was  the  popular- 
ization of  science  ;  and  Professor  MeMurdock,  the 
Shakespearean  reciter,  whom  she  had  heard  at  Chick- 
ering  Hall. 

There  were  Temple,  the  historian  ;'  Camden,  an 
elderly  journalist,  known,  also,  for  contributions  to 


344  THE   HOUSE   OF  A  MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

the  magazines,  and  a  leading  social  spirit  at  the  Lotos 
Club  ;  Flitchbrush,  the  painter ;  a  tragic  actress,  and 
another  prominent  in  "society"  parts.  The  actress 
of  tragedy  reclined  languidly  in  an  easy-chair,  and  in 
the  course  of  the  evening  recited  a  selection  from 
Mrs.  Browning.  The  society  actress  shifted  from 
one  to  another  of  various  carefully  studied  poses,  that 
the  lines  of  her  slender  figure  and  excellent  profile 
might  be  seen  to  advantage. 

There  was  Jane  Scrim  who  wrote  a  good  deal  of 
matter  of  small  importance  with  a  spiteful  tang,  and 
had  a  termagant  air  corresponding  with  her  literary 
style.  She  was  continually  flying  about  from  one  pro- 
fession to  another,  representing  each  as  an  extraor- 
dinary new  departure,  and  calling  upon  gods  and 
men  to  take  notice.  Mrs.  Sevenleague  had  crossed 
alone  the  dangerous  wilds  of  Bungaleeboo.  Count 
Altamont,  whose  title  was  somehow  shady,  though 
genuine,  posed  for  traveller,  poet,  and  amateur  in  all 
the  fine  arts,  and  was  popular  with  the  female  sex. 
He  had  brought  with  him  a  protege  in  the  shape  of 
an  Indian  boy,  in  full  feathers  and  deer-skin,  whom 
he  had  procured  in  the  wilds  of  the  West.  He  repre- 
sented that  he  proposed  to  take  charge  of  his  musical 
education. 

Mrs.  Anne  Arundel  Clum  shook  hands  with  Otti- 
lie.  Dr.  Wyburd  also  came  forward,  and  greeted  her 
demonstratively. 

"  Yes,"  he  said,  "  you  find  me  here.  I  should  have 
been  good  at  this  sort  of  thing  if  I  had  been  allowed 
to  follow  it.  As  it  is,  I  only  woo  the  muse  a  little, 
in  a  fragmentary  way,  in  such  poor  intervals  as  I  can 
snatch  from  my  engrossing  occupations.  I  come  here 
but  seldom,  yet  not  for  want  of  inclination  and  desire. 


AN   EVENING  IN   LITERARY   SOCIETY.  345 

The  genial  companionship  of  people  of  letters  is  tonic 
and  reviving.  The  mind  is  apt  to  rust  out  in  our 
purely  fashionable  life.  It  is  here,  in  fact,  that  I  feel 
myself  most  at  home." 

There  were  present  other  journalists  besides  Cam- 
den, as  a  young  Mr.  Skate,  lately  attached  to  that 
able  review  the  "  Slate,"  the  editors  in  chief  of  the 
"  Musical  Tablet,"  the  "  Art  Vignette,"  —  recently 
started  in  opposition  to  the  "  Art  Kaleidoscope,"  — 
and  the  u  Hebrew  Exodus."  The  assembly  had  a 
very  cosmopolitan  air. 

Mr.  Skate,  on  being  presented  to  Ottilie,  said  that 
he  rarely  came  to  these  places,  but  his  reason  was  of 
a  different  sort  from  Dr.  Wyburd's.  It  was  contempt 
instead  of  lack  of  leisure.  He  said  it  was  refreshing 
to  find  some  one  to  whom  he  could  express  a  few  frank 
opinions,  —  some  one  out  of  the  regular  gang.  He 
went  on  to  give  the  policy  in  criticism  which  he  en- 
deavored to  carry  out  in  the  "  Slate." 

"  I  have  too  short  principles,"  he  said.  "  Nothing 
good  can  be  produced  in  America.  Our  civilization 
is  too  new  and  raw.  It  may  appear  to  be  good,  but 
that  is  an  error.  On  the  other  hand,  nothing  very 
bad  can  be  produced  in  Europe,  which  is  saved  by  its 
centuries  of  culture,  its  storied  monuments,  its  natu- 
rally pro  founder  way  of  looking  at  things.  Having 
thus  simplified  matters,  one  merely  points  out  the 
degrees  of  badness  and  goodness,  and  concentrates 
upon  a  new  way  of  saying  things.  I  would  hardly 
wish  this  to  go  outside  as  coming  from  me,  but  I  have 
devoted  much  thought  to  the  position,  and  am  satis- 
fied of  its  correctness." 

The  Indian  boy,  most  notable  of  the  curiosities,  as- 
sured Ottilie,  in  a  sulky  way,  that  he  wore  no  such 


346  THE  HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

clothes  at  home,  and  had  no  musical  taste  whatever  to 
be  cultivated.  His  Reservation  was  a  civilized  place, 
with  farms  and  schools,  and  the  people  appeared  in 
European  dress.  This  theatrical  outfit  had  been  made 
to  order  for  him  at  a  costumer's  in  the  Bowery,  and 
Count  Altamont  was  toting  him  about  to  add  to  his 
own  importance. 

Ottilie  wondered  that  the  poet  Ringrose  should  ap- 
pear so  young.  He  was  just  beginning  to  show  the 
first  approaches  of  middle  age.  She  had  somehow 
thought  of  him  as  older.  He  was  a  nervous,  quick- 
speaking  person  ;  not  gloomy,  but  with  a  trace  as  of 
a  permanent  trouble  on  his  countenance.  He  bright- 
ened at  a  compliment  she  paid  him  in  quoting  some 
lines  of  his  which  had  impressed  her  in  a  peculiar 
way,  and  treated  her  very  affably.  Perhaps  they 
got  none  too  much  praise,  after  all,  these  sensitive 
organizations.  Ringrose  had  letters  in  his  pockets 
from  brother  celebrities.  He  showed  Ottilie  some 
of  these. 

"  He  conducts  a  correspondence  with  all  the  learned 
of  his  time,"  said  Mr.  Stoneglass,  coming  up.  "  It  is 
like  the  age  of  Erasmus.  They  condole  with  each 
other  after  their  peculiar  freemasonry,  and  no  doubt 
despise  the  profane  vulgar  as  it  deserves." 

Ringrose  received  this  sally  with  a  deprecating 
smile. 

"  I  have  just  had  a  letter  from  Canto,"  he  said. 
"  He  incloses  me  a  poem  and  wishes  me  to  tell  him 
exactly  what  I  think  of  it.  I  think  it  the  best  bad 
poem  I  ever  saw.  It  has  his  usual  knack,  his  deft- 
ness ;  but  when  you  come  to  look  for  ideas  there  is 
nothing  in  it.  Form  alone  may  do  in  the  picture,  but 
not  in   poetry.     For  my  part,  I   confess  that  I  like 


AN  EVENING   IN   LITERARY   SOCIETY.  347 

subject  in  my  picture  also,  though  it  is  not  the  thing 
to  say  in  these  Impressionist  days.  We  had  the 
whole  discussion  over  last  night  at  Flitchbrush's  stu- 
dio. They  call  'story'  in  a  picture  'literary,'  — 
that  is  the  disparaging  epithet  they  apply  to  it ;  but 
if  they  can  find  nothing  worse  to  say,  I  remain  quite 
unmoved." 

u  An  interesting  place,  that  of  Flitchbrush,"  sug- 
gested Mr,  Stoneglass. 

"  Yes,"  said  Ringrose.  "  You  should  go  around  to 
one  of  his  evenings,"  to  Ottilie  ;  "  that  is  to  say,  if 
you  are  at  all  of  Bohemian  tastes,  —  as  I  fear  you  are 
not.  His  studio  is  a  remarkable  place,  decorated 
with  rugs  and  miscellaneous  traps,  and  full  of  port- 
folios of  things  to  look  over.  People  drop  in  infor- 
mally of  Wednesday  evenings,  and  tea  is  passed  about. 
Mrs.  Flitchbrush  sows  at  a  bright  costume  for  a  lay 
figure,  as  a  good  mother  of  a  family  might  mend  the 
apparel  of  her  children." 

Flitchbrush  joined  them.  "  I  was  speaking  of  our 
discussion  of  last  night,"  said  Ringrose. 

Upon  this,  as  is  so  apt  to  be  the  case,  the  same  dis- 
cussion again  arose. 

"  A  picture  should  be  decorative  before  every- 
thing," said  Flitchbrush.  "  If  it  can  get  a  subject 
that  lends  itself  to  this  purpose,  so  much  the  better ; 
but  decorative  it  must  be,  at  all  hazards." 

"  Art  has  a  higher  mission,"  asserted  Ringrose. 

"  It  has  its  own  mission,"  rejoined  Flitchbrush, 
"  and  nothing  else." 

In  an  adjacent  group  it  was  being  disputed  whether 
newspaper  criticism  should  be  signed  or  not. 

"  It  should  be  signed,"  declared  the  historian, 
Temple. 


348  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

"  It  should  not  be  signed,"  declared  the  journalist, 
Camden. 

"  I  say  it  should,"  said  Temple  again.  He  was  a 
small  man,  with  an  almost  boyish  briskness  of  speech 
and  manner,  though  near  the  age  of  fifty.  He  was 
not  a  very  great  historian,  but  he  had  some  excellent 
ideas. 

"  It  is  an  insufferable  outrage  that  some  work  of 
mine,  over  which  I  have  spent  months,  perhaps  years, 
should  be  at  the  mercy  of  some  anonymous  penny-a- 
liner,  who  has  nothing  to  lose  by  printing  the  first 
rubbish  that  comes  into  his  head.  He  may  even  be  a 
competent  person,  and  only  tired,  cross,  or  hurried ; 
or  he  may  be  incapable  of  forming  an  opinion  entitled 
to  respect.  All  the  same,  in  it  goes,  and  a  bias  is 
created  which  is  not  recovered  from,  perhaps  in  a 
generation.  Suppose  it  to  be  a  new  play.  The 
critic  hurries  away  from  it,  somewhat  before  mid- 
night. He  wants  to  go  to  bed,  and  discriminating 
writing  is  by  no  means  easy  at  best.  Why  should 
he  earn  his  salary  in  a  difficult  way  when  an  easy 
way  will  do  ?  He  damns  or  praises  at  his  own  sweet 
will.  His  only  rule  is  to  be  quick  about  it.  —  No,  let 
the  opinions  be  signed.  If  they  amount  to  anything, 
they  will  stand  on  their  merits ;  if  not,  they  will  be 
taken  from  whence  they  came,  like  the  kick  from  the 
traditional  mule." 

"  A  newspaper  man's  life  would  not  be  worth  hav- 
ing, under  those  conditions,"  protested  Mr.  Camden. 
"  He  could  not  show  himself,  for  scowling  looks, 
when  generally  he  had  done  no  more  than  his  duty." 

"I  sign  everything  /write,"  said  the  belligerent 
Miss  Scrim.  "  I  put  my  town,  county,  and  street  ad- 
dress to  it.  They  always  know  where  to  find  mey  if 
they  want  me." 


AX   EVENING   IN   LITERARY   SOCIETY.  349 

"  It  would  create  a  school  of  criticism,  and  give  it 
a  place  in  literature,"  continued  Temple.  "  Look  at 
the  school  of  critical  writers  which  has  arisen  in 
France  under  this  system." 

Mr.  Stoneglass  talked  to  Ottilie  of  the  fine  quali- 
ties, as  a  man  and  a  citizen,  of  her  uncle.  He  hoped 
to  see  him  soon  in  the  treasury  department. 

Colonel  Bowsfield  made  mention  to  her  of  experi- 
ences in  the  service  of  the  Khedive  of  Egypt.  Mrs. 
Sevenleague,  who  had  lately  returned  from  a  career 
in  London  society,  gave  her  an  account  of  Browning, 
Swinburne,  and  a  new  American  writer  who  had 
lately  gone  there,  and  was  making  a  stir. 

"  Is  he  as  bright  as  the  conversations  in  his  books?  " 
asked  Ottilie. 

11  We  met  him  only  once,  at  Lady  Ludgate  Hill's," 
said  her  informant.  "  He  talked  exclusively  about 
the  weather." 

She  said  of  a  leading  English  novelist  of  the 
younger  school,  "  We  saw  a  great  deal  of  him  when 
in  lodgings  in  London.  He  was  quite  devoted  to  a 
young  lady  of  our  party.  At  one  time  it  looked  very 
much  like  an  engagement." 

Ottilie  could  hardly  believe  that  this  was  real ;  that 
it  was  indeed  she  who  was  hearing  at  first  hand  of  the 
very  greatest  personages,  figures  to  which  her  imag- 
ination had  always  gone  out  with  reverence,  and  this 
from  others  of  a  kindred  sort.  But  she  was  accept- 
ing it  forlornly,  and  forcing  an  interest,  instead  of 
kindling  with  enthusiasm.  A  little  while  ago  it 
would  have  been  impossible  for  anything  to  be  more 
to  her  liking,  but  now  the  virtue  had  somehow  gone 
out  of  it. 

"  These  wretched  little  human  affections  of  ours, 


350  THE  HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

how  engrossing  they  are !  "  she  sighed.  "  Of  what 
possible  consequence  is  this  feeling  of  mine,  yet  it 
rises  up  and  eclipses  the  universe." 

The  one  person  in  all  the  world  with  whom  she 
could  best  have  enjoyed  the  new  experience,  the  one 
who  would  have  caught  its  quaint  humors,  its  con- 
trasts, its  fresh  and  typical  aspects,  was  ruthlessly 
torn  from  her.  A  sense  of  this  grew  so  keen  as  to  be 
at  moments  almost  intolerable.  It  seemed  as  if  the 
hour  of  departure  would  never  come.  She  looked 
often  to  see  if  Rosine  were  not  in  waiting  with  her 
cloak  in  the  hall  below. 

Temple,  planting  himself  squarely  before  her,  said, 
"  What  do  you  do  ?  I  think  I  have  read  your  poems. 
It  is  always  fair  to  ask  that  question  at  Mrs.  Stone- 
glass'.  Everybody  here  is  supposed  to  have  done 
something  of  note," 

Ottilie  felt  her  fraudulent  position,  in  trying  to 
pass  on  equal  terms  in  a  circle  of  such  distinction,  at 
length  justly  exposed. 

"I —  I  only  appreciate,"  she  stammered. 

But  the  apparent  severity  of  the  brisk  little  histo- 
rian proved  to  be  only  his  manner,  and  not  offense. 
Finding  that  he  had  an  excellent  listener,  he  talked 
to  her  a  long  time  exclusively  about  himself.  Pres' 
ently  he  accosted  the  member  of  the  great  publish- 
ing house  on  the  subject  of  a  proposed  new  volume. 
This  led  to  a  wrangle,  half-humorous  at  first,  on  the 
disproportion  between  the  profits  of  publisher  and  au- 
thor. 

"  You  grind  the  faces  of  the  poor,"  said  Temple. 
"  You  seize  the  lion's  share,  and  put  off  the  author, 
the  real  producer,  without  whom  you  could  not  exist, 
with  a  beggarly  pittance." 


AX   EVENING   IN   LITERARY    SOCIETY.  351 

"  I  can  demonstrate  to  you,"  said  the  publisher, 
"  that  the  ten  per  cent,  received  by  the  author  really 
comprises  the  larger  share  of  profits."  And  he  began 
in  an  elaborate  way  to  so  demonstrate. 

"  That  is  all  very  well,  all  very  well ;  but  mean- 
while the  author  starves  in  his  garret,  and  you  roll 
hither  in  your  carriage." 

"  I  would  have  you  to  know,  sir,  that  I  came 
hither  in  a  horse-car." 

"  And  I  on  foot,"  said  the  brisk  historian,  with  a 
triumphant  air  in  having  the  last  word. 

From  time  to  time  the  hostess,  Mrs.  Stoneglass, 
implored  silence,  by  proxy  of  some  polite  masculine 
volunteer,  and  introduced  a  performer. 

A  very  dark  young  woman  at  Ottilie's  side  favored 
her  with  particulars  of  her  early  education,  taste  in 
books,  and  the  like.  She  seemed  rather  young  to 
have  attained  distinction  on  her  own  account,  and  Ot- 
tilie  set  her  down  as  only  allied  to  it  by  family  ties. 

"  From  my  earliest  years,"  she  said,  "  my  family 
took  pains  to  gather  about  me  only  the  most  intel- 
lectual and  refined.  I  have  never  known  what  it  is  to 
associate  with  anybod}7  not  intellectual.  My  taste  in 
literature  has  been  formed  in  the  same  way.  I  care 
for  no  characters  in  books  who  would  not  be  suitable 
companions  for  me  in  real  life.  My  father  was  a  man 
of  the  greatest  talent.  You  must  have  heard  of  him, 
—  Chester  A.  Skadge.  He  wrote  poems,  plays,  es- 
says, everything.  But  he  esteemed  more  than  all  his 
old  family  name." 

"  Oh,  I  am  sure  he  must  have  been  quite  right," 
said  her  auditor  sweetly,  which  caused  the  young 
woman  of  exceptional  advantages  to  dart  at  her  a 
look  of  suspicion. 


352  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

A  small,  gentle-speaking  lady  on  the  other  side  — 
■who  did,  not  prove  quite  as  gentle  as  she  seemed  — 
confided  to  her,  next,  an  opinion  of  the  American  fic- 
tion of  the  day. 

"  It  is  very  little,  very  pretty,  very  very  dainty," 
she  said,  joining  a  thumb  and  finger  to  aid  in  express- 
ing the  idea.  "  But  when  you  look  for  breadth,  for 
scope,  fire,  magnificence  of  conception,  what  a  disap- 
pointment !  Why  do  they  give  us  no  great,  noble, 
typical  women  ?  And  what  do  they  do,  their  insig- 
nificant characters  ?  Nothing  in  the  world  but  sit 
around  and  talk.  Not  an  incident,  not  a  circum- 
stance, of  an  extraordinary  sort !  " 

"  Is  it  not  pleasant  to  see  life  as  it  is,  —  I  mean 
the  best  part  of  it,  —  to  have  the  writers  try  to  find 
the  poetry  and  romance  around  us  ?  "  ventured  Otti- 
lie.  "  I  am  sure  it  is  as  genuine  as  if  it  existed  in 
a  remote  age,  or  under  some  very  exceptional  circum- 
stances. And  I  sometimes  think  that  there  is  noth- 
ing so  charming,  either  in  books  or  out  of  them,  as 
just  the  right  kind  of  conversations." 

But  she  stopped  in  trepidation.  Had  she  actually 
the  temerity  to  contradict  such  people  as  this? 

Some  of  the  performers  brought  forward  by  Mrs. 
Stoneglass  were  musical.  Among  others  appeared  Wil- 
helmina  Klauser,  daughter  of  the  confidential  agent 
through  whose  stratagem  Ottilie  had  been  first  in- 
troduced to  her  uncle's  notice.  The  German  girl  had 
developed,  it  seemed,  a  talent  quite  out  of  the  com- 
mon, which  caused  her  to  be  in  much  demand.  Her 
blonde  hair  was  bound  up  in  fillets,  like  that  of  a  clas- 
sic nymph.  She  was  retiring  by  nature,  but  her 
music  inspired  her.  Seated  at  the  piano,  she  dashed 
oil'  her  selection  with  an  almost  masculine  vigor. 


AN  EVENING   IN  LITERARY   SOCIETY.  353 

The  most,-  howeve:*,  were  of  the  histrionic  order. 
Recitations  seemed  an  entertainment  much  in  vogue. 
The  distinguished  tragic  actress  kindly  gave  some- 
thing, as  has  been  said.  Professor  McMurdock,  the 
Shakespearean  expositor,  followed.  Count  Altamont 
placed  himself  crosswise  on  a  chair  for  a  steed  and 
pretended  to  be  a  cavalier  engaged  in  some  remark- 
able exploit.  The  poem  in  which  this  was  set  forth 
was  his  own. 

When  he  had  finished  Mrs.  Stoneglass  gave  a  little 
ecstatic  cry  :  —  "  How  lovely  !  How  perfect !  "  and 
clapped  her  hands. 

She  liked  to  encourage  her  performers,  and  keep 
them  in  an  obliging  vein.  She  congratulated  the 
Count  on  his  poem  also,  saying,  — 

"  Authors,  we  know,  like  pretty  women,  must  be 
flattered." 

"  But  when  one  is  both  author  and  pretty  woman, 
then  what  is  to  be  done  ?  "  returned  the  Count,  with 
a  languishing  glance.  It  was  perhaps  such  speeches 
as  these  that  gave  him  some  of  his  popularity  with 
the  fair  sex. 

In  a  corner  apart  stood  a  little  group  of  rising 
poets,  who,  with  talent  and  ardor,  were  not  without 
some  of  the  eccentricities  of  youth  and  their  calling. 
It  was  whispered  to  the  hostess  that  Mr.  Edson  Jud- 
son,  of  this  group,  had  a  poem  in  his  pocket,  which 
lie  had  delivered  with  great  acceptance  to  the  circle 
at  a  dinner  at  a  restaurant,  just  before  thtir  coming 
hither. 

Mrs.  Stoneglass  insisted  that  Mr.  Judson  should 
repeat  the  performance,  and  he  allowed  himself  to 
be  persuaded.  He  announced  in  a  few  dignified 
words  of  preamble  that  science  was  ln3  chosen  inspi- 

23 


354  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

ration.  He  made  no  secret  of  his  belief  that  modern 
science  afforded  a  deeper  and  truer  inspiration  than 
any  the  effete  past  could  boast  of.  His  poem  was  an 
ode  to  Vortex  Atoms.  It  had  a  sufficiently  learned 
air,  but  was  not  so  wholly  lucid  as  poems  very  often 
are. 

A  Mr.  Okenberg,  described  as  a  writer  of  short 
stories  in  the  magazines,  was  introduced  to  Ottilie, 
He  had  a  lively,  rather  caustic  way  of  talking.  He 
appeared  to  enter  into  her  situation,  and  undertook 
explanations  of  curious  phases  of  the  things  about 
her. 

"  That  is  James  Edson  Judson,"  he  said  of  the 
young  poet  who  had  just  finished.  "  He  is  a  broker. 
He  has  been  dubbed,  by  some  friendly  hand,  a  '  poet 
of  the  future,'  and  delights  in  the  title.  His  best 
things,  however,  are  not  done  in  pursuance  of  his 
theory." 

Mr.  Edson  Judson  retired  to  his  circle,  and  was 
received  by  them  with  beaming  countenances.  He 
had  taken  occasion,  before  retiring,  to  mention  to 
Mrs.  Stoneglass  that  the  poem  of  Mr.  George  Glad- 
win Ludlow,  delivered  at  the  same  dinner,  was,  in 
its  way,  even  better  than  his  own.  Mr.  George  Glad- 
win Ludlow  was,  upon  this,  invited  forward  in  his 
turn.     His.  effusion  was  of  a  gloomy,  suicidal  cast. 

"  If  the  other  two  members  of  the  group  are  asked 
to  recite,"  Mr.  Okenberg  went  on,  "  Wixon  will  give 
comic  squibs;  the  other  —  but  no,  Hurl  pool  will 
never  be  allowed  to  recite.  These  last  are  connected 
with  the  press,  in  one  way  or  another,  and  pursue 
the  journey  to  Parnassus  in  the  intervals  of  more 
active  occupation.  They  rarely  come  here.  I  don't 
know  what  brings  them  to-night.     As  a   rule  they 


AN  EVENING   IN  LITERARY   SOCIETY.  -355 

take  their  pleasure  in  a  less  trammeled,  more  Bohe- 
mian fashion.  Each  has  his  specialty.  Just  as  that 
of  Judson  is  science,  of  Ludlow,  suicide,  of  Wixon, 
comic  squibs,  the  grand  specialty  of  Hurlpool  is  to 
fly  in  the  face  of  all  the  received  proprieties.  He  is 
a  literary  Ajax  defying  the  lightning.  He  seems  de- 
termined to  be  original,  at  any  price.  He  is  great  on 
orientalisms,  and  on  renditions  of  Scripture  in  an  easy 
fashion  of  his  own.  His  verbiage  blazes  with  light 
and  color.  He  says  that  the  bane  of  American  let- 
ters is  the  preposterous  deference  shown  the  '  young 
person.'  He  would  have  all  departments  of  life 
thrown  open  as  material  for  literature.  He  would 
have  literature  made  for  adults,  and  not  for  babes  in 
arms,  and  sighs  that  he  was  not  born  a  Frenchman. 
Perhaps  he  is  not  as  bad  as  he  seems.  He  has  an 
excellent  warm  heart  for  his  friends,  and  looks  at 
himself  with  a  kind  of  innocence.  In  the  clique  his 
effusions  are  received  without  especial  objection. 
The  theory  most  in  vogue  among  them  is  that  of 
art  for  art's  sake.  One  subject  is  looked  upon  as 
about  as  good  as  another.  The  members  have  their 
little  eccentricities  of  appearance,  as  you  see, — the 
literary  Ajax  a  smile  of  calculated  brightness ;  the 
poet  of  the  future,  the  raven  locks  and  slouch  hat  of 
a  murderer  in  a  melodrama  ;  the  suicidal  poet,  the 
blonde  beard  and  spectacles  of  a  socialist  philosopher 
of  Montmartre.  The  humorist  alone  is  dapper  and 
clean-cut.  It  is  a  saving  grace,  after  all,  humor  ;  it 
keeps  us  out  of  a  multitude  of  scrapes." 

A  long-haired,  elderly  man,  much  more  eccentric 
in  aspect  than  any  of  the  clique  described,  now  ap- 
proached. 

"  Here    comes    Chalker,"    said    Okenberg.     "  He 


356  THE   HOUSE    OF  A  MERCHANT  PRINCE. 

says  'the  genius  is  half  d — d  fool,'  and  counts  him- 
self a  genius.  He  is  running  at  his  own  expense  a 
weekly  called  the  "  Scroll."  He  maintains  that  it  is 
needed  to  keep  in  order,  and  eventually  supplant,  the 
"  Slate."  He  is  extremely  sanguine  about  it.  It  is 
crammed  with  vagaries.  If  the  "  Slate  "  has  its  vaga- 
ries, also,  they  are  at  least  based  upon  a  keen,  worldly 
wisdom.  He  is  engaged  upon  a  great  work  of  hy- 
pothetical analysis.  He  tells  me  that  he  will  show 
what  sort  of  a  novelist  or  playwright  Napoleon  would 
have  made  ;  how  Turner  would  have  led  armies,  and 
Beethoven  managed  a  paint-pot. 

"  I  think  I  have  a  couple  of  new  subscribers  for 
you,  Chalker,"  he  said  to  the  object  of  this  descrip- 
tion. 

"  Don't  bring  me  subscribers,  my  dear  young 
friend,"  returned  Mr.  Chalker.  "  But  if  you  have  a 
couple  of  new  ideas,  bring  them  in.  That  is  what 
we  want." 

The  recitations  were  resumed.  The  professional 
elocutionists  of  the  masculine  sex  were  distinguished 
by  clean-shaven  faces,  to  secure  the  greatest  play  of 
expression.  One  of  them  imitated  musical  instru- 
ments, the  sounds  of  animals,  leading  actors,  and  per- 
sonages in  public  life. 

It  appeared  that  the  young  lady  who  had  described 
to  Ottilie  her  fastidious  bringing  up  by  the  late 
Chester  A.  Skadge,  also  possessed  this  talent.  She 
went  forward  to  the  middle  of  the  room,  stood  a  few 
moments  with  a  portentous  fixity,  and  suddenly  burst 
out  with,  — 

"  Oh-o-o  !  young  Lochinvar-ar  is  come  out  of  the 
west." 

Her  eyes  were  opened  to  their  widest  and  fiercest 


AN  EVENING  IN  LITERARY   SOCIETY.  357 

tension  at  first,  and  this  was  followed  by  a  capacious 
smile.  Her  words  were  accompanied  by  gesticula- 
tion after  the  Delsarte  system. 

The  selection  seemed  almost  a  herald's  flourish  of 
trumpets  to  usher  in  an  important  new  arrival. 

Lanes,  or  rifts,  occasionally  opened  through  the 
crowd.  All  at  once,  down  such  a  lane,  Ottilie  dis- 
covered Bainbridge.  He  had  apparently  just  come 
up  the  stairs,  and  was  shaking  hands  with  the  host- 
ess. The  lane  closed  again,  and  he  had  not  discov- 
ered Ottilie.  She  turned  pale,  and  leaned  for  a  mo- 
ment against  the  wall. 

She  had  opportunity  to  recover,  however,  before 
he  came  up.  Mr.  Okenberg  was  once  more  talking 
to  her,  and  Camden  the  journalist,  and  Ringrose  the 
poet,  and  others  were  close  by.  Bainbridge  had  a 
preoccupied  air  as  if  looking  for  somebody. 

"  Ah,"  he  said,  touching  Camden's  arm,  "  have  I 
found  you  ?  I  have  been  at  your  lodgings.  They 
said  that  you  would  probably  be  here." 

He  did  not  observe  at  once  the  presence  in  which 
he  stood.  He  awoke  to  it  with  a  start.  He  endeav- 
ored to  cloak  this  against  suspicion,  by  an  extra 
assumption  of  indifference.  He  finished  in  a  word 
or  two  the  business  he  had  with  Camden,  and  then 
spoke  with  Ottilie.  The  rest  gave  him  the  prefer- 
ence for  a  moment,  still  maintaining  their  places. 
He  politely  inquired  for  her  impressions.  There  were 
topics  enough  for  conversation  in  the  novel  scene. 
Ottilie  schooled  herself  to  reply  impassively.  Noth- 
ing is  more  chilling  to  expansions  of  ill-regulated  affec- 
tion than  dread  of  the  disdain  of  its  object.  In  the 
presence  of  Bainbridge  she  was  phenomenally  calm. 
But  she  kept  her  glance  averted. 


358  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

"  They  are  not  at  all  too  friendly  in  speaking  of 
one  another,"  she  said.  "  Several  of  them  have 
abused  Mrs.  Shaftsbury  to  me,  and  then  in  turn  each 
other." 

"  The  axiom  might  be  laid  down  that  people  who 
are  equal  to  disliking  the  same  thing,  are  not  neces- 
sarily equal  to  liking  each  other,"  said  Bainbridge. 

They  spoke  of  some  of  the  more  pronounced  indi- 
vidualities. "  They  have  ideals  of  their  own  in  per- 
sonal appearance,  you  see,"  said  Bainbridge,  hardly 
knowing  how  his  words  ran.  "  They  desire  to  estab- 
lish a  correspondence  between  their  looks  and  excep- 
tional positions.  They  take  their  profession  with  a 
profound  seriousness,  —  wish  us  to  think  they  make 
a  sort  of  priesthood  of  it." 

"  It  is  a  rank  charlatanism,"  said  Okenberg.  "  If 
I  were  a  poet,  I  should  model  myself  on  a  butcher- 
boy  in  appearance.  The  technical  poet,  the  techni- 
cal thinker,  the  technical  anything,  is  my  aversion. 
Poetry  is  the  singing  voice  of  the  soul  as  opposed  to 
its  common  speech.  Most  of  us  have  our  little  touch 
of  it  somewhere.  Whether  a  man  have  more  or  less 
of  it  in  him  is  not  a  reason  why  he  should  make  a 
guy  of  himself.  Poetry,  thought  of  any  kind,  is  not 
conjured  out  from  under  a  particular  kind  Of  hat,  as 
if  it  were  a  trick  in  legerdemain.  I  tell  you  there  are 
reputations  that  consist  entirely  of  an  uncouth  name, 
a  cloak,  and  a  slouch  hat,  and  nothing  else." 

"  Charlatanism  or  not,  it  is  probably  what  the  pub- 
lic prefer,"  said  Bainbridge.  "  We  do  not  want  our 
ideas  furnished  to  us  by  exactly  the  same  order  of 
beings  as  ourselves.  Given  a  sufficient  difference  in 
appearance,  and  way  of  doing  things,  and  we  shall 
half  delude  ourselves  into  the  belief  that  we  are  deal- 
ing with  a  race  of  a  foreign  and  mysterious  sort." 


AN   EVENING   IN   LITERARY   SOCIETY.  359 

"  I  saw  you  talking  with  Mrs.  Plumfield,"  said 
Ringrose  to  Ottilie,  —  "  the  gentle-looking  little  lady, 
of  positive  opinions,  who  has  just  turned  this  way. 
She  gave  you  her  opinion  of  American  fiction,  I  dare 

"  Yes,"  assented  Ottilie,  in  surprise. 

"  She  asks  why  there  are  no  great,  noble,  typical 
women  in  it,"  interrupted  Okenberg.  "  I  am  sure  I 
can't  tell  her,  considering  how  very  common  they  are 
in  real  life.  You  ladies,  though,  are  great  extremists. 
You  want  in  a  novel  either  one  of  two  things.  There 
must  be  a  heroine  of  portentous  seriousness,  who  per- 
forms none  but  the  most  magnanimous  deeds,  or  else 
she  must  be  continually  climbing  fences,  with  un- 
kempt hair  and  face  stained  with  blackberries,  when 
the  discriminating  young  man  turns  up  who  is  to  be 
the  arbiter  of  her  destinies.  Now  that  I  have  ascer- 
tained what  you  need,  however,  I  propose  to  conform 
to  it  and  turn  it  to  pecuniary  account.  I  conceive 
a  happy  compromise.  My  next  heroine  shall  be  a 
Joan  of  Arc  who  is  first  discovered  sliding  down  the 
banisters. 

"  I  detest  compromises,"  said  Miss  Jane  Scrim, 
catching  the  word. 

Mr.  Okenberg  looked  as  if  he  moderately  detested 
Jane  Scrim. 

"  Then  I  hope  you  will  take  more  kindly  to  my 
second  great  original  idea.  It  is  a  plan  to  ameliorate 
the  condition  of  elderly  spinsters,  a  hardly  used  race, 
both  in  fiction  and  out  of  it.  I  consider  it  worth 
oceans  of  platform  agitation." 

"Yes?"  fiercely. 

"  Let  us  combine  to  slowly  but  surely  advance  the 
ages  of  our  heroines.     My  last  heroine  was  nineteen. 


360  THE   HOUSE   OF   A  MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

My  next  shall  be  twenty-two,  the  next  twenty-seven, 
the  next  thirty,  and  so  on.  The  charming  time  of 
maidenhood,  the  ideal  period  for  first  love  and  matri- 
monial sentiment  may  thus  be  made  to  extend,  say 
to  fifty." 

.  Ottilie  did  not  quite  like  this.  "  Mrs.  Plumfield 
thought  our  fiction  deficient  in  incident,"  she  said,  by 
way  of  diversion. 

"  Nobody  will  ever  make  that  complaint  about  her 
story,"  said  Okenberg.  "  She  has  written  a  novel,  — - 
perhaps  you  may  not  know  it.  She  hawked  it  around 
to  all  the  publishers,  and  then  printed  it  at  her  own 
expense.  Not  that  that  is  anything  against  it,  for 
about  the  last  man  in  the  world  to  know  a  good 
thing  when  he  sees  it  is  a  publisher.  It  is  crammed 
with  murders,  abductions,  and  explosions  of  nitro- 
glycerine. The  hero  has  '  a  throat  like  a  marble 
column,'  and  lives  in  a  bandbox,  and  his  sweet  name 
is  Cyril  Gurle." 

"  The  i  incident '  school  has  gone  out,"  pursued 
Okenberg.  "  We  have  come  to  understand,  with 
Schopenhauer,  that  *  the  rank  of  a  novel  is  according 
as  it  depicts  more  the  inner  and  less  the  outer  life.' 
Mental  and  moral  incidents,  in  their  effect  upon 
character,  are  objects  of  interest  vastly  more  worthy 
of  contemplation  than  runaway  horses  and  exploding 
locomotives." 

"And  are  the  other  kind  to  be  ruled  out  alto- 
gether ?  "  asked  Ottilie. 

"  Nothing  is  to  be  ruled  out ;  but  writers  will  nat- 
urally be  graded  according  as  they  cater  to  a  childish 
taste  for  marvels  or  to  something  more  enlightened. 
There  is  a  rank  of  physical  incidents,  too.  There 
are  plenty  of  happenings  which  are  strange,  poetic, 


AN   EVENING   IN   LITERARY    SOCIETY.  361 

stimulating  to  the  imagination,  and  worthy  of  inter- 
est in  themselves,  just  as  are  lovely  people,  places,  and 
aspects  of  nature.  The  other  day  two  ocean  steamers 
passed  each  other  in  such  a  fog  that  neither  could  be 
seen  from  the  other,  yet  so  near  that  voices  could  be 
heard  from  one  to  the  other.  I  call  that  a  good  in- 
cident. Put  the  heroine  on  board  one,  the  hero  on 
the  other  ;  see  ?  He  hears  her  voice  as  if  out  of  the 
air.  It  is  some  critical  turn  in  their  affairs  ;  see  ? 
That  would  be  as  good  as  an  equal  space  of  any  but 
the  very  best  of  my  own,  or  Blank's  conversations. 
No,  on  the  whole,  nothing,  or  almost  nothing,  should 
be  ruled  out.  '  Hitch  your  wagon  to  a  star  !  '  Hitch 
it  to  the  great  passions,  the  forces  of  nature,  the  feel- 
ings of  weirdness  and  mystery  that  stir  dimly  in 
every  human  breast.  The  work  must  be  done  with 
the  broad  Homeric  touches,  too,  as  well  as  the  fine 
ones,  if  it  expects  to  live.  It  must  not  be  too  civ- 
ilized, too  sophisticated.  Over-sophistication  may 
possibly  be  the  next  vice  of  our  literature." 

"  The  ■  bane  of  our  literature  is  the  caprice  of 
magazine  editors,"  insisted  Bowsfield,  the  traveler. 
"  Does  anybody  suppose  for  one  moment  that  I  would 
send  in  an  article  unworthy  of  my  reputation?  Let 
the  writer  be  true  to  himself.  Look  at  Wordsworth. 
Immediate  recognition  is  no  test  of  merit.  Words- 
worth was  the  best  judge  of  Wordsworth ;  you, 
Okenberg,  are  the  best  judge  of  Okenberg  ;  and  I, 
Bowsfield,  of  myself." 

He  tapped  himself  proudly  on  the  breast. 

"  One  bane  of  American  letters,  as  of  American 
art,"  said  Okenberg,  "is  the  abject  reverence  for 
everything  European.  We  are  not  seeing  enough 
with  our  own  eyes.     A  curious  thing,  because  we 


362  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

have  been  accustomed  in  so  many  books  and  pictures 
to  scenes  laid  abroad,  we  have  fallen  into  the  way  of 
thinking  that  the  only  proper  place  for  them.  We 
do  not  reflect  that  the  foreign  writers  and  picture- 
makers  have  used  the  people  and  places  about  them. 
Supposing  they  too  thought  it  necessary  to  go  abroad, 
whither  would  they  repair  ?  The  London  of  Dickens, 
the  Paris  of  Victor  Hugo,  are  their  own  familiar 
stamping-grounds.  The  best  literature  and  art  have 
always  been  home-inspired." 

Thus  the  talk  went  on.  Ottilie  had  but  small  part 
to  take  in  it,  but  with  what  an  intelligence  she  an- 
swered! Perhaps  the  others  saw  in  her  a  trace  of 
sadness,  and  tried  to  divert  her  from  it.  Bainbridge 
had  conquered  his  flushings  and  paleness.  His  eyes 
wandered  yearningly  over  her  face.  He  thought 
he  had  never  known  her  so  thin  before.  Could  it  be 
that  she  .also  had  suffered  ?  To  what  advantage  she 
appeared  in  every  company  !  He  had  been  well 
along  on  the  road  towards  freedom,  as  he  deemed. 
He  relapsed  into  his  slavery  with  a  headlong  impetus. 
He  must  have  speech  with  her.  He  began  to  devour 
her  with  his  eyes.  He  would  have  liked  to  seize  her 
in  his  arms,  in  the  midst  of  them  all,  and  bear  her 
away  from  their  senseless  babble,  as  is  said  to  be  the 
custom,  as  part  of  the  matrimonial  preliminaries, 
among  some  barbarous  tribes. 

"  You  must  not  judge  us  too  hastily,  you  know," 
said  Okenberg,  choosing  to  represent  Ottilie  as  an  in- 
vestigating person,  whose  mission  it  was  to  severely 
formulate  literary  society.  "  Perhaps  you  have  n't 
seen  the  best  of  us.  You  must  come  again  and  often. 
A  new-comer  is  apt  to  see  the  odd  features  too  much. 
Our  entertainers  are  the  nicest  people  in  the  world, 


AN   EVENING   IN   LITERARY    SOCIETY.  363 

but  all  sorts  of  persons  turn  up  here.  One  sometimes 
has  to  think  that  the  literary  faculty,  instead  of 
strength,  is  a  form  of  weakness.  If  we  really  under- 
stood life,  we  should  command  it,  reap  its  principal 
rewards,  comfortably  live  it,  instead  of  passing  our 
time  vaguely  speculating  about  it.  You  see  the  pre- 
posterous egotism  and  conceit  of  some  of  us.  There 
are  persons  here  who  would  talk  you  to  death  about 
their  own  superlative  genius  and  never  turn  a  hair. 
There  are  people  with  every  apparent  advantage  in 
the  world,  who  know  no  more  of  Chesterfield  than 
if  they  had  been  brought  up  in  the  heart  of  Africa, 
—  and  some  of  them  call  themselves  thinkers,  the 
more  's  the  pity." 

"  I  think  I  would  draw  it  milder,"  suggested  Mr. 
Camden.  "  It  will  not  do  to  unfold  all  the  dark 
secrets  of  our  prison-house  at  once.  You  will  frighten 
our  visitor  away,  and  that  would  be  a  great  calam- 
ity," he  added,  with  a  gallant  bow. 

"  I  am  not  the  ill-natured  critic  you  affect  to 
think,"  Ottilie  disclaimed.  "  It  all  pleases  me  very 
much.  I  am  only  too  flattered  to  be  allowed  to  be 
here." 

"  Well,  there  are  ideas,'1  said  Okenberg,  taking  the 
back  track,  "plenty  of  them,  bubbling  and  seething. 
It  is  better  than  stagnation,  after  all.  The  people 
have  something  more  in  them  than  what  mere  money 
will  buy.  I  don't  know  but  I  have  patience  with 
most  of  them,  except  Bolster.  Bolster  is  literar}%  as 
the  Irishman  played  the  violin,  '  by  main  strength.' 
He  has  money,  and  publishes  a  volume  every  year  at 
his  own  expense.  lie  has  never  known  what  it  is  to 
have  a  single  unaffected  human  impulse  or  turn  of 
expression.     In  manner  and  matter  alike  he  sets  your 


364  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

teeth  on  edge.  And  yet  he  passes,  in  a  way,  for  a 
literary  man.  Publishers  ought  to  be  held  to  pains 
and  penalties  for  such  things." 

Bainbridge  drifted  away  from  the  group,  proposing 
to  seek  a  favorable  opportunity  to  return  to  it  and 
secure  Ottilie  to  himself.  It  dissolved  presently,  in 
the  shifting  way  in  which  things  pass  in  such  assem- 
blies. Ottilie  exchanged  some  words  with  Wilhel- 
mina  Klauser,  who  told  her  the  later  news  from  Har- 
vey's Terrace. 

"  Miss  Finley  is  worse,"  said  Wilhehnina.  "  She 
goes  about  crying  and  saying  that  she  is  losing  her 
mind.  Mrs.  Cutler,  her  former  friend,  pretends  to 
be  indignant  that  anybody  could  suppose  her  husband 
to  have  done  wrong.  Perhaps  it  really  was  not  so 
much  his  fault.  He  may  have  been  taken  in.  I 
have  heard  that  he  has  been  to  see  prominent  persons 
to  find  out  if  there  is  not  some  way  of  getting  re- 
dress." 

"  He  has  seen  my  uncle,"  said  Ottilie.  "  I  think 
that  something  will  be  done." 

The  knot  of  minor  poets  were  now  discussing  with 
heat  the  problem  whether  the  genius  is  in  advance  of 
his  time,  or  only  its  very  mouth-piece  and  essential  ex- 
pression. There  was  no  uncertain  implication  that 
this  was  a  question  in  which  they  all  had  a  personal 
interest.  This  was  mingled  with  talk  upon  the  char- 
acters of  editors,  rates  of  payment,  and  the  rise  and 
fall  of  journals. 

A  group  of  young  playwrights  considered  the  de- 
cline, or  rather  failure  to  arise,  of  the  American 
drama.  It  was  laid  to  the  incompetency,  and  fiendish 
hostility  to  native  merit,  of  the  managers.  A  mem- 
ber whose  sole  claim   to  authority  was  founded  on  a 


AN   EVENING  IN   LITERARY    SOCIETY.  365 

poor  dramatization  of  a  French  novel,  which  had  run 
two  nights  in  the  country,  described  his  method  of 
work. 

"I  have  a  miniature  theatre  of  pasteboard,"  he 
said,  "  on  which  I  arrange  everything  in  advance.  I 
fix  even  my  exits  and  entrances.  When  I  have  once 
established  a  certain  exit  or  entrance,  no  manager 
under  heaven  shall  change  it." 

"  He  has  read  me  some  of  his  things,"  remarked 
Camden  to  a  neighbor.  ci  I  recollect  one  in  particu- 
lar, a  comedy,  at  which  he  laughed  till  the  tears  ran 
down  his  cheeks,  and  positively  there  was  not  a  touch 
in  it  to  provoke  the  faintest  smile." 

Ottilie  stood  near  the  piano.  The  case  of  pathetic 
hardship  she  had  heard  from  Wilhelmina  had  in- 
creased her  own  sadness,  and  at  the  same  time  ap- 
peared to  make  it  selfish. 

"  I  make  my  own  griefs,"  she  sighed  ;  "  those  of 
others  are  made  for  them." 

Bainbridge  came  up  to  her  again.  At  length  they 
were  alone. 

"  How  well  Mr.  Okenberg  talks  !  "  she  said,  by  way 
of  breaking  an  impending  awkwardness. 

"  He  is  somewhat  of  the  order  of  that  potentate 
who  '  never  said  a  foolish  thing  and  never  did  a  wise 
one.'  He  does  not  always  carry  his  good  ideas  into 
practice.  Still,  he  has  time  before  him,"  responded 
Bainbridge. 

He  fidgeted,  looked  to  the  right  and  left,  then  sud- 
denly, in  a  changed,  almost  husky  tone,  "  I  wish  you 
would  come  and  sit  down  with  me  for  a  while. 
There  is  something  I  want  to  say  to  you.  I  can  find 
places." 

"  I  do  not  think  I  ought  to,"  Ottilie  murmured ; 


366  THE   HOUSE   OF  A  MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

but  opposition  died  on  her  lips,  and  she  followed 
him. 

He  led  the  way  through  the  crowd  and  found  some 
chairs  in  a  corner.  The  people  standing  and  moving 
in  front  of  them  insured  a  sort  of  privacy  to  their  in- 
terview. 

"  I  did  not  know  that  you  were  here,"  began  Bain- 
bridge.  "  I  had  not  the  slightest  idea  of  it.  I 
thought  you  would  have  accepted  an  invitation  ear- 
lier in  the  season.  It  is  only  by  the  merest  accident 
that  I  am  here  myself.  I  had  to  find  Mr.  Camden, 
in  connection  with  a  piece  of  work  I  am  doing  for  his 
paper,  and  I  was  directed  to  this  place.  —  It  is  going 
to  make  the  greatest  difference  to  me  that  I  have 
come.     I  have  something  I  must  say  to  you." 

"  If  it  be  to  account  for  your  extraordinary  keeping 
away  from  me,  of  late,"  faintly,  "  perhaps  it  is  quite 
in  order." 

"  I  did  not  expect  to  see  you,"  repeating  himself  in 
his  agitation.  "  I  had  made  up  my  mind  not  to  see 
you."  Ah,  he  had  made  up  his  mind  not  to  see  her  ? 
"  Do  you  know  why  I  stayed  away  ?  " 

"  No,"  answered  Ottilie.  "  I  thought  perhaps  — 
It  was  said  —  The  report  went  around  —  that  you 
were  engaged  to  Miss  Emily  Rawson." 

"  What  nonsense  !  "  he  cried  indignantly,  half  start- 
ing up.  And  yet,  perhaps  indignation  was  not 
greatly  called  for.  His  own  conduct  had  given  ex- 
cellent color  to  such  a  report.  He  was  somewhat 
cooler  upon  this,  and  acted  with  greater  self-posses- 
sion. 

u  Well,"  he  said,  "  I  have  been  trying  the  severest 
experiment  of  my  life.  I  have  been  trying  to  see 
what  sort  of  a  martyr  I  should  make.     But  I  am  not 


AN   EVENING   IN   LITERARY   SOCIETY.  367 

of  the  stuff  for  martyrdom.  I  recant,  I  retract  my 
errors,  or  am  perhaps  ready  for  worse  ones.  The 
rack  and  thumb-screw  frighten  me.  Had  it  ever  oc- 
curred to  you  that  I  might  be  in  love  with  you  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Ottilie  with  a  violent  start,  opening  her 
fan  to  aid  in  concealing  her  emotion. 

"  You  had  not  thought  that  all  that  pretty  inter- 
course, that  charming  friendship  of  ours,  was,  on  my 
side,  love,  —  that  it  was  bound  to  result  in  it  ?  You 
made  me  so  unspeakably  fond  of  you  that  "  — 

"  How  ?  I  made  you  so  fond  of  me  !  "  These 
were  the  dearest  words  she  had  ever  heard  in  her 
life,  and  they  gave  her  a  feeling  almost  of  faintness, 
but  she  answered  as  if  refuting  some  kind  of  asper- 
sion. 

"  Simply  by  being  what  you  are,"  —  he  went  on,  — 
"  the  loveliest  character,  the  most  beautiful  and  ador- 
able being,  in  the  world.  Simply  by  giving  me  your 
companionship,  by  letting  me  be  with  you." 

And  all  this  had  to  go  on  with  bated  breath,  and 
no  other  demonstrations  than  such  as  would  have 
been  proper  to  conversation  on  the  most  ordinary  top- 
ics. Bainbridge  bore  with  difficulty  the  enforced  re- 
straint. He  would  have  liked  to  sink  literary  and  all 
other  society,  for  the  time  being,  to  the  bottom  of  the 
sea. 

"I  am  not  at  all  adorable,"  returned  Ottilie,  " if 
you  only  knew  me.  Nor  am  I  beautiful  ;  I  have  never 
been  told  so.  My  mirror  informs  me  too  truly  on 
that  point.  And  there  are  excellent  reasons  why  I 
ought  not  to  let  you  talk  to  me  in  this  way.  I  must 
not  listen  to  you." 

u  I  knew  that  I  should  never  be  able  to  see  you 
again  without  telling  you  all.     Now  you  have  heard 


368  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

it.  To  pass  your  house,  even  to  walk  in  the  direction 
of  it,  to  call  you  to  mind,  has  given  me  thrills  and 
pains  of  the  heart.  I  must  show  what  I  have  been 
through.  I  am  completely  unstrung.  I  am  good  for 
nothing." 

"  Then  why  did  you  keep  away  ?  " 

"  Because  I  was  magnanimous.  Now  that  I  have 
relapsed  into  my  selfishness,  I  have  come  back.  I 
tried  to  sacrifice  you  to  your  own  best  good.  I  have 
never  made  a  secret  of  my  worldly  circumstances. 
At  the  last  period  of  our  intimacy  they  had  become 
notably  worse  than  ever,  and  so  I  took  myself  off.  I 
wanted  to  do  nothing  to  interfere  with  your  pros- 
pects, the  brilliant  match  you  might  well  enough 
make.  You  recollect  how  we  talked  of  these  subjects 
in  the  summer.  When  I  thought  Kingbolt  was  mak- 
ing up  to  you,  I  tried  in  the  same  way  to  give  him  a 
clear  field,  though  I  was  tortured  with  a  jealousy  I 
cannot  describe." 

"  And  you  were  really  jealous  of  Kingbolt?  " 

The  insensate,  delightful  idea  !  The  blood  again 
coursed  warmly  through  all  her  chilled  members. 

"  Madly.  And  since  then  I  have  been  jealous  of 
all  the  world.  The  advice  I  gave,  the  principles  we 
laid  down,  are  as  good  as  ever ;  but  oh,  I  love  you  so 
dearly  that  I  have  not  been  able  to  prevent  myself 
from  coming  to  you  with  a  foolish  proposition.  I 
have  come  to  ask  you  to  be  mine,  in  spite  of  all  that 
we  have  said  ;  to  try  and  conceive  an  existence  from 
the  romantic  point  of  view,  without  all  of  those  things 
that  we  may  once  have  thought  so  necessary.  It  is 
better  that  I  should  have  made  you  this  offer,  at  any 
rate.  Now  you  have  but  to  refuse  me.  I  shall  have 
the  comfort,  at  least,  of  knowing  that  I  have  done  all 
I  could." 


AN   EVENING   IN   LITERARY    SOCIETY.  369 

"  There  is  just  one  ray  of  light,"  he  went  on,  be- 
fore Ottilie,  gasping  for  breath,  could  begin  her  an- 
swer. He  spoke  now  with  a  nervous  haste,  as  if  to 
postpone  as  long  as  possible  the  adverse  decision, 
though  the  instant  before  he  had  professed  himself 
resigned  to  it.  "  A  letter  has  reached  me  to-day, 
which  may  prove  of  significance.  It  informs  me  that 
my  absconding  debtor  and  quondam  friend,  of  whom 
I  once  told  you,  has  turned  up  in  Denver,  with  the 
appearance  of  a  prosperous  person.  He  is  thought 
to  have  met  with  success  in  mining.  In  that  case  I 
shall  be  able  to  recover  what  is  due  me.  I  am  going 
to  take  a  journey  thither  ;  who  knows  what  may  come 
of  it?  And  besides,"  he  continued,  as  if  not  willing 
to  have  the  decision  rest  wholly  upon  so  problematic 
a  resource,  and  with  a  boastful  air  new  to  him,  "I 
shall  presently  get  a  large  practice.  I  must.  Fortune 
cannot  always  run  in  the  same  groove ;  and  when  it 
turns  it  can  turn  in  but  one  way." 

It  touched  Ottilie  deeply  to  see  him  almost  humil- 
iate himself  before  her,  like  this.  But  she  was  re- 
volving certain  ideas. 

"  No,"  she  said  ;  "  this  is  a  sudden  impulse.  It  is 
against  the  sober  judgment  you  had  formed.  Let  us 
renew  our  former  friendship.  That  will  do,  will  it 
not?" 

"  It  is  too  late  for  friendship.  It  never  was  friend- 
ship.    I  have  analyzed  it  thoroughly." 

"  You  exaggerate  what  you  are  pleased  to  call  my 
brilliant  prospects  ;  and  you  greatly  disparage  your- 
self," returned  Ottilie.  "  You  are  good  enough  for 
anybody.  You  must  not  think  that  it  is  reasons  of  a 
mercenary  kind  by  which  I  am  influenced.  I  esteem 
it  a  very  great  honor  you   do  me,  —  I  say  it  most 

24 


370  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

truly,  —  but  I  am  obliged  to  decline.  I  cannot  marry 
you." 

u  Oh,  do  not  say  that !  Oh,  why  ?  "  he  pleaded  in 
a  wretched  way.  "  Then  you  have  never  cared  for 
me?" 

"  On  the  contrary,  I  have  cared  for  you,  and  I  do 
like  you,  very,  very  much.  There,  I  am  glad  to  have 
told  you  that,  though  it  must  not  alter  my  decision." 

For  the  first  time  the  people  in  the  vicinity  may 
have  had  some  slight  suspicion  that  these  two  were 
not  talking  exclusively  about  the  weather. 

"  Drop  your  hand  by  your  side  a  moment !  Let 
me  take  it  in  token  of  gratitude  for  even  so  much," 
Bainbridge  asked.  "  They  will  not  see.  Just  an 
instant !  " 

"  They  ivill  see.  I  am  very  foolish,"  she  said,  con- 
senting. "There!  there/1'  and  she  drew  the  hand 
away  again  from  his  ardent  pressure  with  some  diffi- 
culty. 

She  continued  firm,  nevertheless,  in  her  refusal. 
She  had  her  secret  ideals  of  duty  and  self-sacrifice, 
and  they  were  perhaps  higher  than  his.  She  recalled 
perfectly  well  what  his  theory  of  a  comfortable  ex- 
istence had  been.  She  had  no  right  to  take  advan- 
tage of  an  injudicious  enthusiasm  to  hamper  him,  and 
possibly  prevent  its  realization  forever. 

Bainbridge  asked  for  whys  and  wherefores,  put- 
ting himself  forward  for  a  person  excellently  adapted 
to  the  comprehension  of  reasons.  She  incautiously 
relented  so  far  as  to  furnish  him  with  some.  He  de- 
molished these  with  a  fierce  energy,  and  Ottilie  was 
driven  into  her  intrench m en ts.  Unless  the  garrison 
had  resources  not  yet  drawn  upon,  it  seemed  in  im- 
minent danger  of  having  to  haul  down  its  colors. 


AN   EVENING   IN   LITERARY   SOCIETY.  371 

The  hostess  came  bustling  along  at  this  moment, 
and  begged  to  present  a  new  acquaintance.  Usage 
demanded  that  Bainbridge  should  yield  his  place. 
He  did  so,  with  an  ill  grace,  but  kept  near,  trusting 
to  Ottilie  to  recall  him. 

Fragments  of  discourse  from  adjoining  circles  were 
heard.  Mr.  Okenberg  was  saying,  "  I  shall  put  such 
a  character  through  about  ten  thousand  words."  Or, 
"  Such  an  idea  is  worth  about  six  thousand  words." 

"  I  should  have  been  very  good  at  story-writing, 
do  you  know,"  said  Dr.  Wyburd,  with  much  compla- 
cency. "  I  should  have  drawn  a  great  deal  upon  real 
life.  I  have  had  the  fortune  to  fall  in  with  such  a 
variety  of  experiences." 

He  began  to  give  specimens  by  way  of  establishing 
the  character  of  his  material.  "  You  alter,  of  course, 
and  magnify  any  given  incident  to  suit  your  pur- 
pose? "  he  said. 

"  Yes,"  assented  Okenberg.  "  We  could  not  get 
along  without  that." 

"  Well,  there  was  my  patient,  Colonel  Kingbolt, 
for  instance,  killed  by  the  wind  of  a  shot,  as  you 
might  say.  Nothing  ever  actually  hurt  him.  He 
was  notified  of  a  forgery  in  a  New  York  bank.  The 
bank  telegraphed  him,  i  Have  you  issued  such  and 
such  acceptances,  now  in  our  hands  ?  '  —  date  and 
amount  given,  but  no  name.  He  telegraphed  a  neg- 
ative, and  demanded  details,  but  these  were  refused. 
Renewed  applications  met  with  no  better  success. 
He  got  it  into  his  head  that  there  was  some  infa- 
mous plot  against  his  credit,  and  allowed  himself  to  be 
worried  to  death.  It  was  rather  curious  they  should 
have  refused  the  particulars  to  a  person  of  the  col- 
onel's  importance.      This   might   be  represented   as 


372  THE  HOUSE   OF  A  MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

one  of  those  cases,  such,  as  you  read  about,  where  the 
facts  were  suppressed  in  the  interest  of  influential 
parties." 

"  Yes,  that  could  be  worked  up.  Most  anything 
can  be  worked  up,  you  know,"  said  Okenberg.  "You 
could  have  the  son  of  the  deceased,  say,  come  to  New 
York,  and  into  relations  with  the  persons  who  com- 
mitted the  crime.  One  of  them  might  be,  say,  his 
prospective  father-in-law.  The  whole  matter  might 
be  exploded  on  the  wedding-day.  Nothing  lends  it- 
self to  sensational  possibilities  better  than  a  wedding- 
day." 

"  But,  unfortunately,  you  cannot  construct  your 
little  romance  so  in  this  case,"  broke  in  Stoneglass ; 
"  that  is  to  say,  if  it  is  going  to  be  founded  on  real 
life.  Old  Colonel  Kingbolt's  son  is  about  to  marry 
the  daughter  of  Rodman  Harvey, — as  sound,  solid, 
and  upright  a  merchant  as  ever  lived.  Mr.  Harvey's 
niece  is  with  us  here  to-night,"  he  added  by  way  of 
making  a  little  parade  of  his  guest. 

"  It  is  very  soon,  I  believe,  Miss  Harvey,  that  your 
cousin  marries  Mr.  Kingbolt  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  replied  Ottilie,  flushing,  "  within  a  fort- 
night." 

When  Bainbridge  was  at  last  able  to  resume  his 
suit,  there  were  no  longer  any  traces  of  yielding. 

"  No,"  she  said ;  "  go  your  journey  to  the  West, 
and  forget  me.     That  will  aid  you  to  begin." 

"  I  can  never  forget  you  ;  it  is  not  possible." 

"  Do  you  not  know  of  excellent  reasons  why  you 
should?  "  examining  him  searchingly. 

"  I  know  of  nothing  that  does  or  ever  can  conflict 
with  my  ardent  devotion  to  you." 

He  would  not  concede  that  he  took  her  meaning,  if 


AN -EVENING   IN   LITERARY    SOCIETY.  373 

he  really  did.  Admission  and  conference  would  but 
strengthen  her  fears. 

"There  is  something —  I  cannot  speak  more 
clearly,"  pursued  Ottilie.  "I  have  an  impression,  a 
dread.     It  is  necessary  to  wait." 

"  But  let  it  be  an  engagement !  Then  we  can  wait 
as  long  as  we  like.  What  folly  !  What  cobweb 
fantasy  is  this  !  Come,  we  understand  each  other. 
You  are  not  afraid  of  me.  We  are  engaged.  I  shall 
call  it  so." 

"  No,"  she  persisted.  "  Obstinacy  is  said  to  be  a 
Harvey  trait.  You  will  find  that  it  is  mine.  You 
must  go  your  journey.    I  am  not  to  be  persuaded." 

"  Nothing  shall  induce  me,"  she  was  saying  in- 
wardly, "  to  cast  upon  him,  in  addition  to  all  the  rest, 
the  possibility  of  disgrace  which  I  feel  to  be  impend- 
ing." 

Her  carriage  was  announced.  Bainbridge  insisted 
upon  going  down  to  put  her  into  it.  "I  am  coming 
to  see  you  to-morrow  to  talk  it  over  again,"  he  de- 
clared, at  the  last  moment. 

"  It  will  not  be  of  any  use,"  she  returned.  "And 
perhaps  I  shall  not  be  at  home." 


XXIII. 

A  PLEA  BY  AN  INGENIOUS  ATTORNEY,  BUT  THE 
COURT   RESERVES  ITS   DECISION. 

Bainbridge  went  next  day  to  see  Ottilie,  notwith- 
standing the  prohibition  laid  upon  him.  He  found 
her  at  home,  in  one  of  the  luxurious  rooms  where  he 
had  already  passed  so  many  pleasant  hours. 

"It  is  an  unpropitious  place  to  woo,"  he  said, 
glancing  around,  "but  I  have  come  again  to  try  and 
persuade  you  to  leave  it." 

He  poured  out  a  new  flood  of  affectionate  entreaty, 
and  Ottilie  renewed  her  objections.  But  she  had 
passed  a  night  of  mental  conflict,  which  had  weak- 
ened her.  How  could  she  effectively  resist  when  so 
betrayed  by  her  own  situation,  and  sustained  only  by 
the  drear  sense  of  duty  ?  The  young  man,  in  his 
impetuosity,  was  unconscious  of  himself,  of  all  his 
qualms,  scruples,  and  cynicisms  of  the  past.  He  re- 
minded her,  in  his  persistence,  of  a  teasing  child  who 
will  not  be  gainsaid. 

"  Oh,  waver  !  Oh,  be  weak  at  least !  "  he  urged. 
"  Firmness  is  not  becoming  in  a  woman.  She  should 
vacillate  ;  she  should  be  irresolute,  and  yield.  Come, 
let  us  be  engaged  !  " 

"  You  can  break  it  off,  you  know,"  he  offered,  as 
a  happy  solution,  "  in  case  you  do  not  like  me." 

He  had  taken  her  hand.  "  This  is  the  finger  for 
the  ring,"  he  went  on,  singling  out  the  slender  mem- 


A   PLEA   BY   AN   INGENIOUS   ATTORNEY.  375 

ber  in  question.  "  I  have  in  mind  a  diamond,  which 
has  long  twinkled  to  me  in  a  knowing  way  in  a  cer- 
tain window.  I  shall  bring  it  to  you.  We  must 
have  you  photographed  in  your  wedding-dress,  to 
look  at  in  future  years.     You  will  be  so  lovely  in  it." 

These  apparently  trivial  considerations,  tossed  off 
in  the  heat  of  his  eloquence,  affected  Ottilie,  from 
her  feminine  point  of  view,  with  a  potency  that  some 
of  greater  importance  might  not  have  had. 

She  saw  the  ceremony,  her  new  dignity  as  a  wife, 
the  long  perspective  of  happy  years  by  his  side.  He 
had  combated  every  position  but  that  of  devotion  to 
himself,  by  which  alone  she  was  deterred. 

"  We  should  have  to  live  in  a  kind  of  Bohemian 
way,  of  course,  at  first,"  he  pursued,  going  on  to  ar- 
range all  these  details,  though  she  had  not  yet  con- 
sented. "  We  should  take  some  sort  of  a  flat,  and 
have  rugs  and  a  divan  and  photographs  in  it.  We 
could  give  tea,  you  know,  if  you  wanted  company. 
For  my  part,  I  want  only  you.  Nothing  would  suit 
me  better  than  to  fly  with  you  to  a  desert  island  this 
minute." 

Ottilie  was  astonished  at  her  own  marvelous  power 
of  negation.  To  be  so  importuned  to  do  what  her 
whole  being  called  out  for,  what  appeared  to  her 
the  most  delightful  thing  in  the  world  ?  Was  ever 
woman  so  deliciously  beset  ?  She  rallied,  however, 
but  it  was  only  for  some  such  poor  defense  as  that 
of  gunners  who  try  to  resist  with  clubbed  muskets 
when  the  enemy  is  already  in  the  works  in  over- 
whelming force. 

"  No,"  she  began,  with  an  effort  at  a  precise  air, 
"  g°  your  journey,  dear.  By  the  time  you  have  re- 
turned "  — 


376  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

The  caressing  epithet  had  escaped  her  lips  inad- 
vertently, and  set  him  on  fire.  He  was  no  longer  to 
be  controlled.     He  threw  an  arm  about  her. 

"  Say  you  love  me,"  he  cried,  "since  you  do  !  Let 
us  have  no  moreof  this." 

"  I  love  you,  dear  Russell,"  she  replied,  yielding  to 
him  with  exquisite  languor. 

"  I  could  not  hold  out.  It  was  beyond  mortal  en- 
durance. I  want  to  be  yours,  and  I  want  you  for 
mine,"  she  said.  This  had  an  appearance  of  delight- 
ful candor,  but,  considering  that  she  had  wildly  de- 
bated whether  to  write  that  she  could  not  live  with- 
out him,  she  hardly  thought  it  candor  at  all.  "  But 
you  are  not  to  give  me  any  ring,  and  it  is  not  an  en- 
gagement yet.     I  must  wait." 

"  How  long  ?  " 

"  Ah!  who  can  say?  After  my  cousin's  wedding. 
If  nothing  happens  then,  I  will  fix  a  date  in  the  fu- 
ture ;  and  then  —  if  there  is  nothing,  —  but  I  do  not 
wish  to  talk  about  it.  I  do  not  wish  to  explain. 
Something  must  be  cleared  away.  Perhaps  I  may 
yet  have  to  give  you  up.  Perhaps  all  must  come  to 
an  end  between  us,  hard  as  it  is  to  think  of." 

44  Perhaps  stuff  and  nonsense  !  I  want  to  hear  no 
such  absurd  suppositions." 

"  I  could  bear  it  better  now  than  before,  since  I 
know  that  you  love  me.  I  so  longed  and  prayed  for 
your  love.  You  do  not  know  what  happiness  it  is  for 
me  to  tell  you  this.  The  memory  of  what  has  passed 
would  sustain  me,  even  if  we  should  never  see  each 
other  again." 

44  Well,  it  would  n't  me,  I  can  tell  you."  He  repu- 
diated any  such  fantastic  idea  of  comfort. 

She  was  really    inflexible   now.      Nothing    could 


A  PLEA   BY    AN  INGENIOUS   ATTORNEY.  377 

shake  her.  Bainbridge  had  to  be  content  with  the 
assurance  of  her  affection ;  that,  after  all,  was  the 
important  thing.  The  important  thing  ?  It  was  the 
ineffable  thing. 

Others  no  doubt  had  loved  and  been  loved  in  their 
time,  but  nobody  could  assure  him  that  it  had  been 
in  a  manner  wholly  like  this.  Once,  when  they  two 
were  sitting  together,  Ottilie  bent  forward,  touched 
his  hair  lightly,  and  kissed  him  on  the  forehead. 
Then  she  blushed  deeply.  The  timid  boldness  of 
this  caress  from  such  a  source  gave  him  an  exquisite 
pleasure.  To  have  won  of  his  own  deserts  such  a 
pure  and  beautiful  affection,  in  no  sense  to  have 
bought  or  compelled  it,  —  was  it  not  a  reward  for 
many  trials  ?  Was  it  not  alone  something  to  have 
lived  for  ? 

His  heart  at  this  time  bubbled  over  with  kindness. 
It  was  fortunate  for  beggars  or  any  other  of  the 
wretched  who  came  in  his  way.  He  would  have  liked 
to  share  his  beatitude  with  the  whole  human  race. 

"  Ah,  it  is  happiness  that  is  good  for  us,"  he  cried, 
"  and  not  betrayal  and  defeat." 

But  his  nervous  system  was  at  an  extreme  tension. 
A  word,  a  tender  passage  in  a  book,  a  sweet  chord  of 
music,  affected  him  unduly.  "  It  is  too  much,"  he 
declared  to  Ottilie.  "  I  shall  not  be  worth  the  pow- 
der to  blow  me  up." 

They  had  but  a  few  days  before  Bainbridge's  de- 
parture. Fortunately,  the  bustle  for  Angelica's  wed- 
ding allowed  them  to  be  much  together  unobserved. 
It  may  be  supposed  that  they  indulged  their  share  of 
the  usual  lovers'  babble.  The  old  questions  —  When 
did  you  like  me  ?  Why  did  you  like  me  ?  Where 
did   you  like   me   first  ?  —  were   asked.      They   ex- 


378  THE    HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

changed  now  all  the  fine  shades  of  their  respective 
doubts,  hopes,  and  fears,  which  they  had  so  long 
carefully  concealed  from  each  other.  There  was  now, 
also,  the  case  of  the  former  flame,  Madeline  Scarrett, 
to  be  analyzed.  Ottilie  withdrew  her  hand  from  the 
narrator's  while  this  was  being  done. 

"  You  are"  he  declared,  "  what  I  only  fancied  her 
to  be.  She  was  a  cold  and  heartless  woman,  incapa- 
ble of  warmth  of  feeling  or  intelligent  appreciation. 
Not  that  she  had  much  to  appreciate,  you  know." 

"  Could  you  go  back  to  her  ?  Could  you  ever  like 
her  again  ?  "  Ottilie  asked,  with  a  charming  irrelev- 
ance. 

"  Yes,  I  think  of  going  back  at  once,"  he  said. 
"  Her  husband  is  dead  now,  and  she  is  a  rich  widow." 

But  Ottilie  was  too  content  now  to  allow  herself 
to  be  discomfited  by  his  banter.  She  looked  upon 
Madeline  Scarrett  with  a  lively  wonder  and  indigna- 
tion. She  must  be  a  kind  of  monstrosity,  a  person 
without  the  most  ordinary  perception  of  the  relative 
merit  of  things. 

Some  minor  flirtations  of  the  young  man  were  also 
to  be  gone  over  and  cleared  up.  He  humorously  as- 
cribed whatever  slight  sentimental  fancies  he  might 
have  indulged  to  some  hallucination,  his  lack  of 
knowledge  of  women,  and  particularly  his  lack  of  ac- 
quaintance with  her.  This  having  been  done,  Ottilie 
gave  him  back  her  hand  and  beamed  upon  him  once 
more  with  the  full  measure  of  her  approbation. 

It  was  presently  her  turn.  Her  manner  was  much 
less  forward  now,  though  Bainbridge  aimed  to  con- 
duct the  inquiry  with  a  discretion  befitting  so  deli- 
cate a  subject.  Two  or  three  young  men,  in  their  day 
and  generation,  she  admitted,  had  been  very  pleasant. 


A  PLEA   BY    AN   INGENIOUS   ATTORNEY.  379 

In  fact,  there  had  almost  always  been  some  one  — 
not  that  there  was  any  one  you  could  really  count. 
A  boy  sweetheart  had  given  her  a  carnelian  ring. 

"  Then  there  was  a  young  man,  the  winter  I  passed 
at  Cincinnati,"  she  said,  "who  wrote  me  original 
poetry.  He  represented  me  as  such  a  very  remark- 
able person,  that  really  —  If  he  had  only  made  me 
a  little  less  extraordinary.  But  I  do  not  think  I 
cared  then  for  the  very  poetical  kind.  I  was  sorry, 
of  course,  that  he  should  want  to  go  on  so." 

Bainbridge  called  him  Petrarch,  and  her  a  stoical 
Laura,  turning  a  deaf  ear  to  his  sighs.  "  The  poor 
poets,"  he  said,  uhave  always  got  more  kicks  than 
half-pence.  It  is  lucky  for  me  that  I  could  not  string 
together  rhymes.  I  should  have  been  capable  of 
writing  Iliads  and  Odysseys  about  you  ;  and  then 
you  would  have  had  nothing  to  do  with  me  either." 

He  well  conceived  that  there  could  have  been 
others  by  whom  she  might  have  been  admired  as  by 
him.  But  she  was  not  old  in  love-making.  She  had 
had  no  experience  which  had  touched  in  any  but  a 
superficial  way  her  girlish  fancy. 

The  eye  of  affection  transfigures,  and  it  might 
have  been  difficult  for  the  calm  outsider  to  discover 
all  the  perfections  attributed  to  Ottilie  by  her  lover. 
He  instructed  her  in  her  charms  with  such  a  prodigal 
praise  that  she  was  buoyed  up  by  a  divine  self-pos- 
session. If  half  were  true,  if  every  least  motion, 
tone,  and  look  of  hers  could  give  him  pleasure,  she 
might  well  afford  to  dispense  with  other  critics,  and 
comport  herself  with  a  sweet  dignity.  He  analyzed 
exhaustively  each  of  her  features. 

After  the  manner  of  that  poet  who  wrote  odes  to 
Celia's    Eyebrow,  he  could  have  made   memoirs  in 


380  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

succession  upon  her  unusual  eyes  ;  her  slightly  re- 
trousse nose  ;  her  long  dark  lashes,  which  curved  so 
fascinatingly  outwards.  He  recalled  that  he  had  once 
thought  her  expression  severe,  that  day  when,  wait- 
ing Rodman  Harvey's  convenience,  he  had  stared  at 
her  in  her  hackney-coach. 

"  If  you  but  knew  how  horrid  I  thought  you 
then  !  "  said  Ottilie. 

Nor  was  this  praise  of  physical  perfection  confined 
to  one  side  alone.  Ottilie  insisted  that  her  lover's 
eyelashes  were  longer  than  her  own.  She  found  an 
exceeding  comeliness  in  his  looks  also. 

"  Oh,  no,"  he  said,  disclaiming  this,  as  if  it  were  a 
gross  and  needless  invention.  "  I  have  never  set  up 
for  anything  of  that  sort.  It  is  too  late  for  it  to  be 
discovered  at  this  time  of  day." 

"  Yes,  I  tell  you,"  she  persisted.  "  You  are  a  very 
handsome  young  man.  You  are  a  very  prepossessing 
person." 

In  speculating  about  the  sensation  of  being  loved, 
—  as  it  was  his  way  to  speculate  a  little  about  every- 
thing, —  he  said,  "  It  makes  a  great  difference  from 
what  source  the  affection  comes.  It  is  not  all  equally 
flattering,  though  equally  devoted.  It  must  be  a  dis- 
criminating person,  one  who  is  a  judge." 

"  So  you  think  me  a  judge  ?  "  she  queried,  de- 
lighted. 

"  Oh,  yes,  you  are  a  judge.  You  are  quite  capable 
of  forming  your  little  opinions." 

In  this  mutual  glamour,  intoxicated  with  each 
other's  intensely  genuine  flattery,  they  stood  upon  a 
height  from  which  the  world  of  ordinary  experience 
stretched  out  below  them,  commonplace,  arid,  and 
map-like. 


A   PLEA   BY   AN   INGENIOUS   ATTORNEY.  381 

"  I  ought  not  to  let  you  go  on  so.  It  cannot  last ; 
it  is  too  lovely,''  said  Ottilie,  her  apprehensions  re- 
curring. "  Still,  for  the  little  while  you  are  here, 
perhaps  it  may  not  be  so  wrong." 

She  did  not  know  when  the  smiling  prospect  might 
change,  and  she  have  to  lament  the  altered  gods  and 
the  sea  black  with  ruffling  storms. 

The  final  appeal  of  Bainbridge  to  be  allowed  to 
leave  her  as  his  engaged  wife  met  with  no  more  suc- 
cess  than  all  those  preceding.  He  set  out,  therefore, 
upon  his  long  jaunt  by  rail  with  the  affair  in  this  con- 
dition. She  was  a  friend  simply.  He  was  to  wait 
indefinitely  the  mysterious  period  which  she  put  to 
the  realization  of  his  wishes. 

He  aspired  most  ardently  for  a  prosperous  result 
from  his  mission.  As  he  jogged  interminably  on- 
ward, looking  out  of  the  window  at  the  fleeting  coun- 
try, making  brief  halts  at  commonplace  towns,  doz- 
ing or  half  dozing  in  his  sleeping  car  at  night,  he 
was  lost  for  the  most  part  in  sweet  reveries  of  her. 

He  wrote  to  her  from  the  way  stations.  His  love 
seemed  to  be  changing  his  whole  view  of  life,  of  mor- 
als, of  religion.  The  cynical,  jovial  persons  for  whom 
he  had  lately  professed  admiration,  how  were  they 
really  turning  out?  He  began  a  new  inquiry  into 
character,  and  examined  the  sources  which  had  made 
the  most  admirable  one  he  knew  of  what  it  was.  He 
called  himself  weather-cock. 

"  Am  I  turning  conservative  ?  Shall  I  clenj^  all 
my  negations  ?  Is  the  truth  or  falsity  of  things 
shaken,  then,  by  my  liking  her  ?  "  he  soliloquized. 
Then  again  he  said  :  — 

"  Perhaps  what  is  good  enough  for  her  is  good 
enough  for  me.     Let  us  stand  or  fall  together." 


382  THE   HOUSE   OF   A  MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

Sudden  dreads  of  the  contingencies  of  life  swept 
across  his  mind.  Was  it  possible  that  this  affection 
could  be  imperiled,  or  wiped  out  forever,  by  a  broken 
rail  or  bit  of  defective  boiler  flue  ?  No,  it  must  go 
on.  It  must  not  be  compassed  by  the  span  of  a  few 
brief  years  ;  there  must  be  a  never-ending  future  for 
its  beatific  continuance. 

As  he  had  formerly  been  one  of  the  most  careless 
of  travelers,  he  became  now  one  of  the  most  finical. 
When  a  man  is  loved,  when  he  has  such  a  happiness 
awaiting  him,  it  adds  worth  to  existence.  He  is 
valuable  freight,  by  no  means  to  be  carelessly  handled. 
As  to  turning  out  refractory  tenants  from  shanty- 
town,  it  is  probable  that  he  would  now  have  given  it 
a  very  different  order  of  consideration. 


XXIV. 

"THE  TOILS  ARE  LAID  AND  THE  STAKES  ARE    SET." 

When  Kingbolt  of  Kingboltsviile  had  been  absent 
from  town  and  free  from  the  goad  of  opposition  and 
notoriety  for  some  time,  he  began  to  have  his  furtive 
moments  of  retrospect.  Was  it,  after  all,  the  most 
desirable  thing  to  marry  ?  The  men  of  his  age  were 
not  marrying.  Old  Robert  Rink  was  still  driving 
his  coach  and  enjoying  life  as  a  bachelor  at  sixty. 

"  Marriage  may  have  its  hampering  aspects,  even 
under  the  best  of  circumstances,"  reflected  Kingbolt. 
"  This  giving  up  your  independence,  and  taking  a 
companion,  to  tote  round,  whose  tastes  and  wishes 
are  more  likely  than  not  to  conflict  with  your  own, 
is  matter  for  serious  consideration." 

However,  he  was  now  committed.  It  was  satis- 
factory to  know,  at  any  rate,  that  he  was  to  have  a 
partner  who  would  gratify  his  sense  of  pride  and  self- 
importance  better  than  any  other  he  had  ever  seen. 
On  the  whole,  he  could  not  say  that  he  was  sorry. 

A  certain  stimulus  continued  to  be  furnished,  too, 
by  the  thinly  disguised  opposition  of  his  family. 
"  They  are  always  nagging,  in  their  pusillanimous 
way,"  he  said,  "  at  somebody  or  something  which 
pleases  me." 

A  mysterious  episode,  of  the  last  days  preceding 
the  wedding,  was  the  receipt  of  an  anonymous  letter. 
It    alleged   a   connection   between  Rodman  Harvey 


384  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

and  the  death  of  his  father.  The  cause  had  been 
some  proceeding  of  Harvey's,  which  would  not  bear 
honest  looking  into. 

"  Bah !  "  said  Kingbolt,  tossing  it  contemptuously 
away.  "  There  are  always  infernal  meddlers  about 
trying  to  break  up  any  match  that  promises  well. 
It  is  a  pretty  time  of  day  for  such  a  story  now.  I 
think  I  should  have  learned  something  of  it  in  the 
course  of  a  life-time  if  it  had  been  true." 

He  had  heard,  it  is  true,  an  account  of  some  worri- 
ment  by  which  his  father's  death  had  been  acceler- 
ated, but  the  idea  of  connecting  Rodman  Harvey 
with  it  was  preposterous.  Shortly  after,  his  dismissed 
protege,  St.  Hill,  had  the  impudence  to  call  upon 
him,  and  broach  this  very  subject.  He  suggested 
that  a  public  scandal  was  impending  but,  by  proper 
means,  —  a  bribe  to  himself,  —  might  be  averted. 
Kingbolt  taxed  him  with  writing  the  letter  and  put 
him  out-of-doors.  The  young  Croesus  made  as  little 
of  the  story  as  it  deserved ;  but  what  with  this  and 
other  annoyances  would  have  been  glad  if  the  wed- 
ding were  fairly  over. 

He  gave  a  farewell  dinner  to  his  bachelor  friends, 
which  was  signalized  by  much  jovial  speech-making. 
He  gave  also  a  breakfast  to  his  ushers  and  best  man, 
at  which  they  were  presented  with  handsome  scarf- 
pins.  He  sent  Angelica  a  pair  of  diamond  earrings 
and  a  magnificent  bridal  veil. 

After  the  latest  mode,  the  wedding  ceremony  was 
to  take  place  in  the  evening,  at  seven.  The  brides- 
maids, six  in  number,  were  to  walk  up  the  aisle  un- 
attended. They  were  to  be  costumed  somewhat  in 
the  style  of  the  French  directory,  and  carry  baskets 
of  flowers.     The  bride  and  groom  were  to  meet  at 


"  THE  TOILS  ARE  LAID  AND  THE  STAKES  ARE  SET."  385 

the  chancel  rail.  Dr.  Miltimore  would  marry  them 
by  a  combination  service  of  his  own,  for  which  he 
had  obtained  repute.  Angelica  was,  naturally,  an 
authority  in  the  arrangement  of  these  details.  The 
participants  were  assembled  at  her  house  for  rehear- 
sal, and  again  at  the  church,  that  there  might  be  no 
awkwardness. 

This  last  occasion  was  on  the  Tuesday  preceding 
the  Thursday  for  the  wedding.  It  was  evening.  The 
gas  was  lighted,  the  organ  pealed  out  its  grand 
march,  the  procession  was  formed,  and  the  effect  of 
the  ceremony  realized  so  far  as  might  be  without  the 
flutter  of  the  fifteen  hundred  guests,  and  the  bright 
toilettes  in  the  pews. 

Rodman  Harvey  himself  appeared  at  the  rehearsal, 
but  could  remain  through  only  a  part  of  it.  He  was 
obliged  to  present  himself,  according  to  promise,  at 
the  annual  meeting  of  the  Civic  Reform  Association, 
to  make  his  report.  He  had  come  on  from  Washing- 
ton the  same  day,  and  looked  fatigued.  As  fortune 
must  have  it,  too,  on  the  very  afternoon  of  his  arrival, 
the  invalid  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  at  last  sent 
in  his  resignation.  It  would  probably  have  been  bet- 
ter could  Rodman  Harvey  have  remained  actually 
on  the  ground,  at  the  President's  call.  He  would 
go  back,  however,  at  the  first  moment.  His  nomina- 
tion might  even  be  received  by  telegraph.  The  news 
was  the  talk  of  the  clubs  and  hotel  lobbies. 

In  excusing  himself  to  his  daughter,  Harvey 
said  :  — 

kt  I  am  of  such  little  importance  in  the  show  that 
my  mistakes  will  never  call  for  criticism." 

The  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel  was  bustling  this  evening, 

2J 


386  THE   HOUSE  OF  A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

like  the  caravansaries  in  the  neighborhood,  with  the 
peculiar  life  that  makes  them  a  rendezvous.  Knots 
of  well-dressed  loungers  looked  from  the  portico  at 
the  rolling  cabs,  the  theatre-goers,  the  shameless 
women  flaunting  by,  and  across  to  the  dim  obscurity 
of  the  lights  and  benches  among  the  trees  in  the 
park.  The  green  weather-doors  closed  after  each  in- 
goer  with  a  thud,  as  if  keeping  for  purposes  of  their 
own,  an  audible  tally. 

Within,  was  a  great  scuffling  of  feet  over  the  tes- 
selated  pavement.  Acquaintances  presented  others. 
There  was  a  great  talking  of  politics,  trade,  and  gos- 
sip, and  a  placing  of  fingers  in  the  palms  of  hands 
and  on  the  sleeves  and  lapels  of  coats,  as  an  aid  to 
illustration.  Young  men  about  town  without  a  club, 
came  hither.  Insatiate  dealers  in  stocks  engaged  in 
further  transactions,  or  studied  the  tape  of  the  tele- 
graphic indicator,  coiled  up  in  its  basket.  McKinley, 
salesman  for  Harvey  &  Co.,  had  come  in  search  of  a 
country  customer,  to  whom  he  was  going  to  "  show 
the  town," — expecting  in  consequence  the  larger 
order  on  the  morrow.  Guests  of  the  house  sat  and 
smoked  on  the  benches,  stood  conferring  near  the 
elevator,  with  door-keys  in  their  hands,  or  wrote  let- 
ters in  a  room  at  the  rear,  hung  with  files  of  news- 
papers from  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  scattered 
with  advertisements,  even  to  the  blotting-sheets  on 
the  table. 

One  of  the  green  weather-doors  was  brusquely 
thrown  back  by  Mr.  Sprowle  Onderdonk.  It  nearly 
knocked  off  his  feet  Mr.  Fletcher  St.  Hill,  who  had 
been  awaiting  his  arrival. 

"  You  should  look  out  for  yourself,"  said  Sprowle 
Onderdonk  carelessly,  as  his  coadjutor  picked  up  his 


"  THE  TOILS  ARE  LAID  AND  THE  STAKES  ARE  SET."     387 

hat  with  an  air  of  meekness.  Fletcher  St.  Hill  was 
hardly  the  important  figure  that  he  had  been  a  year 
since. 

It  seemed,  from  the  talk,  that  he  was  looking  for- 
ward to  a  fee,  to  be  more  or  less  liberal  according  to 
the  success  of  the  enterprise  they  had  undertaken. 

44  Has  Harvey  come  yet?  "  asked  Sprowle  Onder- 
donk. 

"  Not  yet.  I  have  been  keeping  a  sharp  lookout 
for  him." 

"  And  the  others  ?  " 

"  Mr.  Hackley  has  already  gone  up  to  the  meeting. 
McFadd  is  here,  —  in  the  best  coat  he  ever  had  on  in 
his  life.  I  got  it  for  him,  —  I  hope  you  will  remem- 
ber that.  He  will  pass  for  a  very  respectable  person. 
He  is  keeping  out  of  sight  just  now,  till  we  are  ready 
for  him." 

44  And  what  success  have  you  finally  had  with  old 
Gammage  ?  " 

44 1  have  tried  in  every  way  to  get  him  over  to  our 
side  and  bring  him  along,  but  nothing  will  stir  him. 
He  is  not  drinking  now,  and  is  obstinate  as  a  mule. 
That  man  Bainbridge  —  where  his  interest  comes  in 
I  don't  see  —  has  influenced  him  against  us.  You 
recollect  the  devil  of  a  time  I  had  to  find  him  again, 
after  he  was  got  away  from  us.  He  has  never  been 
of  any  use  since.  Still,  we  have  his  affidavit,  and 
that  will  serve  our  turn.  He  says  lie  is  sorry  he  gave 
it,  but  that  does  n't  alter  the  fact." 

4i  Well,"  commented  Sprowle  Onderdonk,  44his  af- 
fidavit will  do  for  the  present.  On  the  whole,  I  think 
we  are  in  luck.  General  Burlington  is  in  Barbadoes. 
It  will  be  two  weeks  before  lie  can  be  communicated 
with.     Not  that  we   need   be  afraid  of  anything  he 


888  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

might  have  to  say  ;  he  can  only  testify  in  one  way ; 
but  an  absent  witness  is  better  for  our  purpose,  just 
now,  than  a  possibly  unwilling  one.  We  can  be  as 
bold  as  we  like.  Yes,  I  think  we  can  call  it  a  very 
pretty  case." 

"  I  ought  —  I  want  to  offer  a  final  caution  about 
those  letters  of  mine,"  suggested  St.  Hill,  with  a 
nervous  air.  "  You  are  not  to  use  the  letters  them- 
selves, nor  draw  attention  to  me.  I  have  too  many 
other  difficulties  just  at  present,  and  really  ought  not 
to  be  in  this  business  at  all.  You  are  at  most  to 
sketch  the  treasonable  situation  they  disclose  as  a 
preamble  to  your  more  telling  charges,  and  without 
names.  And  you  are  to  stand  by  me  in  any  conse- 
quences that  may  arise  supposing  Harvey  to  defeat 
us,  after  all,  and  select  me  as  a  victim." 

"  Oh,  of  course  we  are  not  going  to  get  you  into 
trouble,"  returned  his  interlocutor  in  his  bluff  way, 
with  a  mixture  of  contempt. 

Fletcher  St.  Hill  appeared  reassured. 

Rodman  Harvey  entered  the  lobby  holding  a  mo- 
rocco-bound account-book  under  his  arm.  If  the 
green  weather-doors,  keeping  tally,  had  any  sense 
of  impending  evil,  they  may  be  supposed  to  have 
rocked  back  and  forth  upon  themselves  in  a  crooning 
way.  The  merchant  prince  walked  with  his  quick, 
nervous  step,  and,  casting  a  keen  glance  right  and 
left,  passed  up  the  stairs  to  the  parlors  secured  for 
the  meeting  of  the  Civic  Reform  Association. 

The  two  whose  talk  we  have  noted,  followed  at 
their  convenience.  St.  Hill  first  went  in  search  of 
the  ex-bank  messenger,  Peter  McFadd,  where  he  was 
in  waiting,  and  took  him  along. 

The  Civic   Reform   Association  stood  ready  to  do 


excellent  work  in  the  future,  as  it  had  in  the  past.  A 
large  number  of  the  most  reputable  citizens  saw  the 
necessity  for  such  an  organization  in  the  actual  con- 
dition of  the  city's  misgovernment  and  oppression  of 
tax-payers.  There  being  no  particular  crisis  at  pres- 
ent, its  annual  meeting  did  not  call  forth  so  large 
an  attendance  as  some  previous.  Still,  there  was  a 
select  assembly  of  persons  of  the  highest  respectabil- 
ity.    Ex-Governor  Antram  occupied  the  chair. 

Among  the  younger  element  were  some  purely 
fashionable  club  men,  who  appeared  for  the  first 
time.  They  had  been  brought  by  Sprowle  Onder- 
donk,  on  the  promise  of  "  fun,"  as  a  claque  for  his 
support.  Dr.  Wyburd,  who  went  everywhere,  was 
present  of  course. 

The  meeting  was  called  to  order,  and  routine  busi- 
ness disposed  of.  The  reporters,  at  the  table  pre- 
pared for  them,  took  a  few  notes,  with  a  languid  air. 
They  had  no  appearance  of  expecting  to  find  any- 
thing interesting.  It  rame  at  length  to  a  question  of 
the  reelection  of  Rodman  Harvey  to  the  position  he 
had  held  for  another  year.  He  had  made  a  report, 
which  had  been  aceepted  in  the  usual  form. 

At  this  point  Sprowle  Ondeidonk  took  the  floor. 
His  figure  seemed  larger  than  usual.  He  had  a  por- 
tentous, leonine  air.  His  club  men  pressed  close 
around  him,  in  expectation.  His  very  first  words  con- 
tained a  thunderbolt. 

"  I  object  to  the  re-nomination  of  this  man  !  "  he 
cried.  "  I  protest  against  Rodman  Harvey's  being 
allowed  henceforth  to  have  any  part  or  lot  among  us. 
T  protest  in  the  name  of  common  honesty  and  de- 
cency.    I  will  state  my  reasons  why." 

A    tremendous  excitement  arose.      The    assembly 


390  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

looked  with  astonishment  at  this  audacious  disturber 
of  the  ruling  harmony.  Though  an  attorney  and  a 
person  of  considerable  social  weight,  it  was  not  rec- 
ollected that  he  had  before  taken  any  notable  part 
in  its  deliberations. 

"•I  charge,"  he  went  on,  "  that  he  was  a  traitor  to 
his  country  in  her  hour  of  worst  need.  If  that  might 
be  passed  over,  I  charge,  furthermore,  directly  and 
unequivocally,  that  he  is  a  — forger.  I  hold  in  my 
hands  the  proof  of  what  I  say." 

"  Hear !  hear  !  "  cried  his  supporters,  standing  by 
him  as  per  agreement.  Part  of  the  audience  thought 
that  he  must  have  been  drinking  more  than  was  for 
his  good,  and  were  for  ejecting  him.  A  larger  part, 
with  that  secret  delight  in  the  calamities  of  others, 
which  is  a  perverse  human  trait,  or  perhaps  having 
long  entertained  malice  against  the  merchant  prince, 
were  willing  to  hear  all  that  was  likely  to  be  said. 
The  newspaper  reporters  had  pricked  up  their  ears 
and  become  vastly  more  animated.  The  chairman 
was  obliged  to  pound  vigorously  with  his  gavel,  for 
the  restoration  of  order. 

"  That  young  man  shall  be  held  to  a  strict  account- 
ability for  his  words  !  "  Rodman  Harvey  exclaimed, 
and  was  seen  pointing  a  bony  forefinger  with  intense 
directness  at  his  assailant. 

"  It  is  what  I  expect.  It  is  what  I  demand,"  thun- 
dered the  other.  "  By  the  leave  of  this  honorable 
body,  I  charge  that  he  is  not  a  safe  person  to  be 
trusted  with  its  funds.  It  is  high  time  that  fraud 
and  hypocrisy  were  exposed ;  it  is  time  the  whited 
sepulchres  were  opened.  We  have  sat  here  and  list- 
ened to  his  glib  talk  on  the  potenc}7  of  moral  ideas, 
his  cant  as  to  the  works  of  regeneration,  which    are 


to  make  our  city  a  pattern  to  the  world.  But  moral 
reforms  are  not  propagated  from  such  sources.  Moral 
regeneration  is  not  the  work  of  felons,  —  though  yet 
unpunished." 

"  This  is  a  most  scandalous  spectacle,"  cried  the 
editor  Stoneglass,  rising  indignantly,  "  and  I  call, 
Mr.  Chairman,  for  its  suppression  !  It  is  no  place 
for  the  indulgence  of  vituperation  and  private  malice. 
If  there  be  any  charges,  worthy  of  the  name,  against 
our  respected  treasurer,  against  one  who,  as  we  all 
know,  may  at  any  moment  be  called  to  manage  the 
finances  of  the  nation,  let  them  be  put  in  writing  and 
brought  before  a  proper  committee." 

"  Let  it  go  on  ;  I  desire  it  to  go  on,"  insisted  Har- 
vey, in  a  voice  now  high  and  shrill.  "I  have  been  as- 
sailed in  my  private  as  in  my  public  integrity.  These 
preposterous  accusations  must  be  met  now  and  here." 

This  readiness  looked  like  innocence.  The  mer- 
chant prince  had,  indeed,  if  innocent,  too  critical  in- 
terests at  stake,  to  allow  charges  of  any  seeming  im- 
portance to  hang  over  him. 

Sprowle  Onderdonk  drew  papers  from  his  breast 
pocket,  and  unfolded  them  with  a  deliberate  air.  "I 
have  to  display,"  he  said,  "  a  picture  of  baseness, 
hidden  till  now  with  consummate  duplicity.  I  shall 
show  that  it  began  in  treason  to  the  country,  and 
ended  in  the  more  vulgar,  if  less  heinous,  crime  of 
forgery.  I  shall  show  that  the  latter  was  relied  upon 
to  save  the  criminal  from  the  ruin  into  which  he  was 
about  to  be  precipitated  by  the  miscarriage  of  the 
former." 

The  rumor  had  got  out  that  something  extraordi- 
nary was  in  progress  at  the  meeting  of  the  Civic  Re- 
form Association,  and  the  room  began  to  fill  up  from 
below. 


892  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

The  impeaclier  of  Rodman  Harvey  opened  his  case 
with  the  letters  to  the  elder  St.  Hill.  He  gave  dates, 
names,  everything,  explicitly,  and  in  full.  He  had 
no  idea  of  making  anything  less  than  the  best  of  his 
case,  through  consideration  for  the  feelings  of  a  tool 
in  his  employ. 

Fletcher  St.  Hill  was  in  despair.  He  tried  by 
gestures  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  reader ;  then 
approached  and  touched  him  on  the  arm,  but  was 
rudely  repulsed.  He  fancied  that  the  eye  of  Rodman 
Harvey  blazed  at  him  with  wrath,  —  as  indeed  it  did, 
now  that  his  part  in  the  conspiracy  was  disclosed. 
He  left  the  hall  quaking  with  apprehension  but  too 
well  founded. 

The  merchant  prince  hastily  summoned  a  person 
in  whom  he  had  confidence.  There  was  no  longer 
any  motive  for  withholding  the  richly  deserved  pun- 
ishment. "  I  have  in  my  desk,"  he  said,  "  a  fully 
prepared  case  against  this  man  for  a  swindling  opera- 
tion, upon  a  former  employee  of  mine.  There  is  also 
a  collection  of  testimony  to  other  doings,  which  will 
send  him  to  the  penitentiary.  I  am  not  feeling  well, 
and  may  not  be  at  the  office  to-morrow.  Go  and 
place  the  papers  in  the  hands  of  the  district  attorney 
at  once  !  " 

"  Rodman  Harvey  was  ready,"  the  accuser  contin- 
ued, "  to  throw  his  fortune  and  personal  weight  into 
the  scale  of  the  Confederacy.  He  extended  such  cred- 
its to  the  South,  up  to  the  last  moment,  as  no  loyal 
man  would  have  dreamed  of  doing.  Caught  in  his 
own  wiles,  justly  punished  for  his  treasonable  designs, 
lie  was  on  the  brink  of  insolvency.  Let  me  show  by 
what   means  ho  extricated  himself." 

w%  This  is  infamous,  infamous,"  muttered  the  mer- 
chant prince. 


He  stood,  leaning  one  hand  upon  the  back  of  a 
chair,  and  was  seen  to  shake  his  head  in  a  strange 
way  from  side  to  side.  This  was  perhaps  taken  by 
those  who  saw  it  for  a  gesture  of  energetic  denial,  but 
it  was  in  fact  an  irrational  effort  to  dissipate  the  gath- 
ering fogs  of  his  old  enemy  of  vertigo.  Surely,  surely, 
it  ought  to  leave  him  untroubled  in  a  time  like  this. 

"  There  came  a  day  when  he  had  a  vast  indebted- 
ness to  meet,  after  the  admitted  failure  of  all  his  nat- 
ural resources,"  Sprowle  Onderdonk  went  on.  "  The 
balance  against  him  at  the  Antarctic  Bank  was  over- 
whelming. In  the  morning  he  confessed  his  inability 
to  meet  it,  and  begged  an  extension,  which  could  not 
be  granted.  Before  the  close  of  business  hours,  how- 
ever, he  had  met  it.  Among  the  deposits  made  by 
him  in  this  interval  were  three  certain  pieces  of  com- 
mercial paper  to  a  large  aggregate  amount,  which 
were  fraudulent." 

44  Let  me  here  explain,"  the  speaker  interpolated, 
"  that  I  personally  intend  no  invoking  of  the  outraged 
law,  no  prosecutions,  —  if  indeed  the  law  can  yet  be 
invoked,  after  so  long  a  delay.  I  leave  that  to  those 
whose  department  it  is.  My  motive  is  no  more  than 
to  protect  this  body  and  society  at  large  against  the 
further  depredations  of  the  man.  My  belief  is, 
though  it  may  now  be  too  late  to  trace  them  fully, 
that  his  forgeries  were  on  a  large  scale,  and  that  it 
was  thus  he  saved  his  credit.  I  advise  that  the  books 
of  the  Antarctic  Bank,  and  all  other  institutions  with 
which  he  had  dealings,  be  carefully  examined.  I  am 
able  at  present  to  cite  but  three  specimens,  yet  these 
are  more  than  sufficient. 

"  The  pieces  of  commercial  paper  in  question,"  he 
resumed,  "  were  of  the  nature  of  acceptances.     We 


894  THE   HOUSE   OF  A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

may  suppose  that  his  intention  was  to  take  them  up 
before  they  had  matured  and  should  be  forwarded  to 
their  ostensible  maker.  They  purported  to  have  been 
signed  by  a  certain  Colonel  Kingbolt,  of  the  Eureka 
Tool  Works  at  Kingboltsville.  The  fraud,  however, 
was  almost  immediately  discovered,  and  was  confessed 
by  Rodman  Harvey,  when  taxed  with  it  at  the  bank." 

At  this,  the  sensation  was  greater  than  ever.  The 
names  and  incidents  had  struck  particularly  upon  the 
alert  ears  of  Dr.  Wyburd.  "  What  do  I  hear  ?  "  he 
said,  —  "the  Eureka  Tool  Works? — a  forgery  on 
Colonel  Kingbolt  ?  —  Rodman  Harvey  ?  —  the  Ant- 
arctic Bank  ?  Will  extraordinary  things  never  cease 
to  happen  within  my  cognizance  ?  It  is  the  last  part 
of  the  good  story  of  which  I  so  long  ago  heard  the 
first." 

He  edged  his  way  sedulously  nearer  to  the  front,  as 
one  who  had  a  special  right  to  be  there,  owing  to  ac- 
quaintance with  the  case. 

"  This  is  false,  — so  wholly  false!  "  ejaculated  the 
merchant  prince  in  a  husky  voice,  speaking  with  dif- 
ficulty. His  friends  thought  he  was  acting  very 
strangely. 

"  I  present  in  evidence,"  continued  Sprowle  Onder- 
donk  imperturbably,  "the  sworn  statement  of  the 
note-teller  of  the  bank  at  the  date,  one  James  Gam- 
mage,  who  still  lives  in  this  city  and  can  be  sum- 
moned. He  certifies  that  the  acceptances  as  de- 
scribed came  into  his  hands.  Something  unusual  in 
the  signatures  attracted  his  attention.  He  conferred 
with  the  cashier,  Ambrose  Hackley,  who  agreed  with 
him  in  finding  them  peculiar.  He  dispatched  a  tel- 
egram of  inquiry  to  the  Eureka  Tool  Works.  A  re- 
ply was  received,   declaring   any  acceptance   of  the 


"  THE  TOILS  ARE  LAID  AND  THE  STAKES  ARE  SET."    395 

kind  to  be  forgeries.  He  thereupon  notified  General 
Burlington,  the  president  of  the  bank.  General  Bur- 
lington summoned  Rodman  Harvey.  The  latter,  as 
the  witness  was  informed  at  the  time,  and  believes, 
confessed  to  the  making  of  the  pretended  commercial 
paper.  No  criminal  proceedings  were  instituted.  He 
states  that  he  was  afterwards  reprimanded,  as  having 
exceeded  his  authority  in  sending  the  telegram  of  in- 
quiry without  previous  consultation  with  the  presi- 
dent. I  offer  next  the  affidavit  of  Peter  McFadd, 
messenger  of  the  Antarctic  Bank  at  the  time.  Mr. 
McFadd  is  a  very  respectable  person,  and  is  here  pres- 
ent." 

Upon  this,  McFadd  contrived  to  stand  forth  prom- 
inently, in  his  good  coat,  with  the  object  of  drawing 
upon  his  respectability  the  attention  it  deserved. 

"  Mr.  McFadd  testifies  to  having  read  a  telegram 
of  inquiry  addressed  to  the  Eureka  Tool  Works,  and 
also  a  reply  to  it,  of  the  character  described  in  the 
former  affidavit.  He  swears  that  he  was  sent  to  sum- 
mon Rodman  Harvey  to  the  office  of  the  president  of 
the  bank,  and  that  Rodman  Harvey  exhibited,  both 
on  arriving  and  departing,  such  an  agitation  as  he 
should  suppose  that  of  a  guilty  man.  He  was  em- 
ployed to  return  to  Harvey  certain  papers,  which  he, 
the  deponent,  understood  to  have  been  tampered  with 
or  irregularly  fabricated.  When  it  became  a  question 
of  their  restoration,  he  learned  that  one  of  the  papers 
was  missing,  and,  after  considerable  search,  was  not 
found,  but  given  up  as  lost.  He  says  that  it  is  his 
recollection  that  Rodman  Harvey  was  considered  to 
have  committed  some  serious  irregularity  which  was 
passed  over,  for  prudential  reasons. 

The  merchant  prince,  having  recovered  his  equa- 


396  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

nimity,  perhaps  at  the  slightness  of  the  case  against 
him,  interrupted  with  a  remark  of  the  kind  that  had 
been  drawn  forth  from  Sprowle  Onderdonk  himself. 

"  I  hardly  know  whether  it  is  worth  while  to  call 
attention  to  the  paltry  character  of  the  testimony. 
The  affidavit  of  James  Gammage,  once  respectable, 
but  for  years  a  besotted  victim  of  drink,  can  no  doubt 
be  had  at  any  time  on  any  subject,  by  whoever  will 
take  the  trouble  to  dictate  it.  The  ex-bank  messen- 
ger McFadd  is  of  little  better  habits.  He  lost  his 
place  for  cause,  if  I  remember  rightly,  and  later  was 
one  of  a  number  of  squatters  ejected  from  property  of 
mine,  needed  for  better  uses." 

';  We  expect  to  have  our  witnesses  impugned,"  vo- 
ciferated Sprowle  Onderdonk.  "  But  let  us  see  if  as 
much  can  be  done  with  the  next  one.  I  now  present 
the  sworn  affidavit  of  Ambrose  Hackley,  ex-cashier. 
He  desires  to  corroborate  the  statement  of  James 
Gammage,  which  he  has  read.  He  recalls,  further- 
more, having  received  and,  under  instructions,  replied 
to  a  number  of  letters  from  Kingboltsville,  pressing 
for  particulars  of  the  forgeries.  Under  instructions, 
he  returned  only  evasive  and  uninforming  answers. 
His  recollection  is  that  the  matter  was  purposely  and 
deliberately  hushed  up  by  the  aid  of -the  president  of 
the  bank.  He  does  not  assail  the  character  of  Gen- 
eral Burlington.  He  does  not  attribute  his  action  to 
a  collusion  with  the  criminal,  but  to  a  wish  to  avoid 
scandal  and  excitement  at  a  peculiarly  critical  time 
in  the  fortunes  of  all  financial  institutions.  Mr. 
Hackley  is  here,  and  ready  to  furnish  any  further  par- 
ticulars that  may  be  desired.  General  Burlington  is, 
unfortunately,  absent  at  Barbadoes,  but  he  also  will 
be  heard  from." 


"  THE  TOILS  ARE  LAID  AND  THE  STAKES  ARE  SET."  397 

Mr.  Ambrose  Hackley  now  stood  forward  in  bis 
turn,  in  a  conspicuous  vmy.  The  former  sycophant 
bad  braced  himself  for  the  ordeal  of  meeting  his  pat- 
ron's eye,  but  not  with  entire  success.  An  emana- 
tion of  confessed  meanness  pervaded  his  whole  face 
and  figure. 

"  Do  you  say  this,  Hackley  ?  "  demanded  the  mer- 
chant prince,  almost  breathless,  and  trembling  with  a 
new  excitement.  "  Will  you  let  such  a  statement, 
such  a  wicked  and  libelous  distortion,  go  out  upon 
your  authority,  no  matter  w7hat  our  recent  relations 
have  been  ?  " 

"  It  is  as  I  have  always  understood  it,"  asserted  the 
sycophant,  assuming  an  extra  air  of  bravado. 

"  Do  you  not  know,  —  do  you  not  know  well  ?  "  — 
the  merchant  prince  began  to  question  him,  shaking 
a  quivering  finger,  and  his  naturally  limited  voice  ris- 
ing almost  to  a  shriek. 

But  Sprowle  Onderdonk  went  on  like  fate,  and 
bore  down  these  interruptions  sonorously. 

11  Ambrose  Hackley  deposes,"  he  said,  "  to  having 
found,  in  a  waste-basket,  one  of  the  fraudulent  ac- 
ceptances, some  time  after  it  had  been  given  up  for 
lost.  At  first  through  inadvertence,  later  through 
unwillingness  to  revive  the  memory  of  an  unpleasant 
occasion,  and  later  still  as  a  matter  of  curiosity,  he 
kept  this  paper.     He  ha*  it  still  in  his  possession." 

With  this,  Sprowle  Onderdonk  appeared  to  have 
ended.  The  audience  buzzed  loudly,  and  Rodman 
Harvey  gathered  himself,  with  effort,  for  a  reply. 

"  It  must  be  produced,"  lie  began,  —  "  that  paper. 
It  will  speak  for  itself.  It  will  be  seen  —  General 
Burlington  will  say —  Can  this  association  for  one 
moment  suppose —  But  it  will  be  more  convenient 
to  proceed  in  regular  order," 


398  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

In  regular  order,  —  ah  yes,  that  is  it ;  a  defense 
should  proceed  in  consecutive  order.  Ah,  this  leaden 
heaviness  !  He  endeavors  to  brush  it  away  from  be- 
fore his  eyes.  The  first  point  to  be  met,  the  first  con- 
sideration —  let  us  see  ? 

The  merchant  prince  succumbs  to  a  feeling  of 
nightmare.  In  it  a  vision  of  error,  hatched  in  secret, 
follows  him  through  the  years ;  gathers  malevolent 
powers  in  the  darkness ;  expands  at  last  and  leaps 
upon  him,  colossal,  and  terrible,  in  his  moment  of 
physical  weakness.  It  is  all  easily  explained  —  but 
ah,  when  the  head  is  so  thick,  so  thick  !  — 

"  The  libel  of  treason  is  very  old.  It  was  used 
against  me  when  I  was  a  strong  supporter  of  the  gov- 
ernment, and  was  sending  troops  to  the  front  at  my 
own  expense.  These  letters  must  be  looked  into.  I 
know  not  what  may  have  been  added  to  them.  Now, 
as  to  the  second  part  "  — 

Surely  this  was  but  a  short  defense,  if  it  were  all 
that  was  to  be  devoted  to  the  first  part.  The  mer- 
chant prince  rested  more  heavily  on  the  back  of  his 
chair,  and  breathed  in  a  stertorous  way.  He  stared 
around  him  deliberately.  He  had  an  air  as  if  he  had 
been  speaking  for  hours. 

u  For  forty  years"  —  he  began  again.  "I  will 
say —  It  is  in  —  famous.  The  old  house  of  Rodman 
Harvey  &  Co.  has  never  —  been  —  assailed." 

He  pulled  at  his  plain  watch-guard,  then  at  his 
neckcloth.  Ah,  this  wTas  not  a  condition  of  mind  and 
body  to  meet  the  crafty,  well-concocted  plot  of  ene- 
mies !  All  at  once  he  sank,  collapsed,  into  his  chair, 
and  thence,  before  the  outstretched  hands  could  save 
him,  in  an  inert,  disorderly  mass  to  the  floor. 

Dr.  Wyburd\s  presence  at  the  front  proved  unex 


pectedly  useful.  He  pronounced  the  malady  par- 
alysis. It  is  thus  that,  finding  men  still  eager,  sleep- 
less, indefatigable  in  affairs  after  it  has  touched  them 
with  a  premonitory  finger,  it  finally  lays  its  heavy 
hand  upon  them. 

It  appeared  that  a  man  might  rise  from  a  modest 
origin,  gather  an  enormous  fortune,  marry  into  a 
station  above  his  own,  devise  a  plan  for  leaving  his 
wealth,  by  limited  entail,  so  as  to  found  a  patrician 
family ;  it  appeared  that  he  might  rear  a  daughter  as 
beautiful  and  haughty  as  a  young  goddess  Diana, 
who  was  to  marry  a  young  Phoebus  Apollo  of  her 
own  sort  ;  and  that  the  entire  structure  might  be 
toppled  to  ruin  through  an  original  flaw  in  its  corner- 
stone. 

It  appeared  that  such  a  man  might  rise  to  high 
honor ;  represent  the  great  metropolis  in  Congress  ; 
be  the  friend  and  intimate  of  the  President,  and  next 
in  succession  to  the  most  important  office  in  his  gift, 
and  yet  be  subject  to  defeat  from  a  despicable  cause. 

For  defeated  Rodman  Harvey  certainly  was,  cut 
to  pieces,  routed  beyond  hope  of  repair.  Irrespective 
of  their  merits,  his  enemies  had  proved  their  charges 
on  his  body,  as  in  the  days  of  trial  by  mortal  combat. 
There  would  be  no  necessity  now  for  a  weighing  of 
the  evidence  by  President  and  Senate  before  making 
a  cabinet  appointment.  The  case  could  be  decided 
upon  medical  grounds  alone.  Rodman  Harvey  would 
never  again  be  fit  for  human  employments. 

When  he  was  brought  home  to  his  wife  in  this 
state  with  his  helpers  and  sympathizers  around  him, 
she  met  tin;  cortege  with  consternation  and  woe.  She 
invariably  saw  herself,  however,  in  the  foreground  of 
every  prosped ■ 


400  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

"  Oh,  had  I  not  trouble  enough,"  she  bemoaned, 
"  that  this  must  come  upon  me !  " 

But  then,  to  do  her  justice,  she  set  to  work  with 
zest  to  perform  all  such  services  as  lay  within  the 
range  of  her  limited  capacity. 

Ottilie,  too,  was  present,  und  wrung  her  hands 
over  this  sad  arrival  in  dismay.  She  had  the  circum- 
stances of  the  attack,  in  a  guarded  way,  from  the 
friendly  Stoneglass.  He  endeavored  to  make  it  less 
serious  than  it  was,  but  her  swift  imagination  flew 
on  far  beyond  him.  It  was  this  that  she  had  dreaded. 
The  hints  and  forebodings  of  evil  which  had  gained 
such  a  hold  in  her  breast  had  come  to  pass.  She 
read  the  accounts  in  the  newspapers,  which,  after 
their  way,  made  it  as  lurid  as  possible. 

The  inexperienced  girl  could  not  conceive  an  ef- 
frontery that  could  make  such  charges  in  such  an  as- 
sembly, unless  they  were  true.  She  thought  none 
of  the  family  could  ever  hold  up  their  heads  again. 
She  looked  tearfully  at  Angelica,  at  Selkirk,  at  her 
aunt,  at  Calista.  Her  own  happiness  was  forever 
shattered.     Bainbridge  was  lost  to  her. 

"  Oh,  my  prophetic  soul !  "  she  cried.  "  He  will 
hear  of  it  even  before  his  return.  Now  he  will  know. 
Now  he  will  understand  my  reasons.  Alas,  there  is 
little  danger,  when  he  should  endeavor  by  every  le- 
gitimate means  to  rise,  that  he  will  try  to  overcome 
them  now  ! " 

The  enemies  of  the  merchant  prince  had  it  all 
their  own  way  in  the  press  for  a  considerable  time. 
Stoneglass,  indeed,  endeavored  to  make  light  of  the 
story  ;  but  making  light  of  it  on  general  principles 
was  not  sufficient  against  an  array  of  facts  and  fig- 
ures, and  in  the  absence  of  any  responsible  word  of 


"  THE  TOILS  ARE  LAID  AND  THE  STAKES  ARE  SET."  401 

refutation.  Harvey  seemed  to  have  fallen  thunder- 
smitten,  as  if  upon  the  exposure  of  his  real  character. 
None  but  a  guilty  man,  it  was  argued,  would  have 
been  so  affected.  It  was  clearly  a  case  of  divine  in- 
terposition. The  ram's-horn  blasts  of  judgment  had 
blown  upon  this  falsely-enjoyed  reputation,  and  it 
had  gone  down. 

Kingbolt  of  Kingboltsville  learned  of  the  scandal 
from  his  morning  paper.  He  was  buried  in  dazed 
reflection  over  it  at  his  apartments,  when  he  was 
summoned  in  hot  haste  to  the  hotel  where  his  mother 
and  sisters  were  staying.  They  had  come  down  to 
attend  his  wedding  of  the  morrow.  They,  too,  had 
just  read  the  news.  They  beset  him  strenuously  to 
put  off  the  wedding.  They  begged  him  to  proceed 
no  further  in  the  business,  unless  investigation  should 
yield  a  clear  refutal  of  the  charges  ;  and  this  they 
did  not  deem  possible.  They  assured  him  that  the 
family  name  and  interest  were  at  stake.  It  would 
seem  to  them  something  monstrous  should  he  consent 
to  ally  himself  with  one  who,  besides  dishonesty,  had 
been  the  cause  of  hastening  his  father's  death. 

Kingbolt  endeavored  to  repudiate  this  counsel  in 
his  usual  way,  but  it  had  its  effect,  after  all.  He 
would  admit  that  the  case  was  devilish  annoying.; 
and  there  had  been  annoyances  and  to  spare  already. 
He  promised  nothing,  but  said  he  was  going  to  see 
Angelica. 

He  saw  Angelica,  who  had  no  elucidation  for  him. 
She  only  felt  indignantly  that  it  was  a  shameful  libel. 
The  house  was  in  a  turmoil.  The  wedding  must  be 
postponed  a  few  days,  pending  Rodman  Harvey's 
condition,  at  any  rate.  He  lay  comatose,  his  pulse 
extremely    high,    and    vanishing    by   turns.     It  was 

26 


402  THE   HOUSE   OF  A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

thought  that  he  might  die  at  any  moment.  The  in- 
vitations were  countermanded.  Kingbolt  could  not 
forbear  saying,  even  to  Angelica,  that  the  matter 
was  extremely  annoying. 

During  the  few  days  of  this  postponement  he  read 
more  newspaper  accounts,  talked  more  with  his  fam- 
ily, and  consulted,  confidentially,  with  some  disin- 
terested friends,  at  the  clubs  and  elsewhere.  These 
last  admitted  to  him,  confidentially,  that  the  case 
looked  to  them  also  devilish  awkward.  He  went  up 
to  Kingboltsville,  and  wandered  about  there. 

"  It  was  not  altogether  4  good  form,'  you  know,  of 
Angelica  to  throw  over  Sprowle  the  way  she  did,  in 
the  first  place,"  he  reflected,  —  "  though  of  course  I 
should  be  the  la$  person  in  the  world  to  complain  of 
that.  The  Sprowles  are  a  very  vindictive  faction,  and 
they  have  shown  a  specimen  of  their  power.  It  is 
not  pleasant  to  think  of  being  pursued  by  such  peo- 
ple. Of  course  they  will  include  Angelica  and  my- 
self whenever  occasion  offers.  They  have  a  reputa- 
tion for  never  letting  up.  But  the  scandal  itself  is 
even  more  important.  Everybody  seems  to  think 
that  I  ought  to  be  particularly  shocked  by  it,  even 
if  nobody  else  were." 

After  having  suffered  himself  to  be  torn  for  what 
seemed  an  eternity  by  conflicting  emotions,  Kingbolt 
of  Kingboltsville  decided  that  he  was  a  person  of 
sufficient  importance  to  take  a  bold  step.  He  de- 
cided too  that  he  might  as  well  take  it  at  once.  He 
sat  down  and  wrote  the  following  note :  — 

My  Dear  Angelica,  — I  think  the  wedding  bad 
better  be  still  further,  or  indefinitely,  postponed.  Per. 
haps,  under  the  circumstances,  we  ought  not  to  marry 


"  THE  TOILS  ARE  LAID  AND  THE  STAKES  ARE  SET."  403 

at  all.  Of  course  I  do  not  mind  what  has  taken  place, 
on  my  own  account,  but  it  would  be  an  unpleasant 
beginning  for  us.  The  abandonment  of  the  wedding 
need  not  attract  great  attention.  It  can  be  accounted 
for  by  your  father's  condition.  In  fact,  I  feel  that 
after  what  has  occurred  it  will  really  be  impossible  for 
me  to  consider  our  engagement  binding.  A  personal 
meeting  between  us  will  not  be  necessary.  In  any 
event  I  should  hardly  have  time  for  it,  as  I  sail  for 
Europe  to-morrow. 

This  note  was  mailed  and  the  writer  took  the  next 
day's  steamer  as  he  had  announced. 

Angelica  was  thrown  into  a  state  that  may  easily 
be  imagined.  This  seemed  even  a  greater  calamity 
in  the  house  than  that  of  its  owner.  Mrs.  Rodman 
Harvey,  overwhelmed  by  all  these  genuine  evils, 
after  dealing  so  long  with  purely  fictitious  ones,  could 
offer  her  but  little  comfort. 

Angelica,  humbled  by  the  whim  of  a  nature  as 
ruthless  and  even  more  willful  than  her  own,  after 
hysterical  fits,  weepings,  and  communings  with  her 
broken  pride,  finally  went  off  to  pay 'a  long  visit,  the 
real  situation  of  affairs  being  kept  from  the  public. 

In  the  disaster  that  had  befallen  his  father,  Sel- 
kirk seemed  to  find  at  last  something  like  a  profes- 
sion in  life.  lie  developed  a  surprising  talent  for 
the  new  order  of  ministrations  that  now  arose.  No 
hand  so  deft  as  his.  no  volition  so  ready,  in  attendance 
upon  the  helpless  bulk  that  had  once  been  a  mer- 
chant prince,  lie  lifted  Ids  father  affectionately  in 
and  out,  and  supported  his  tottering  steps.  He  would 
commit  to  no  other  the  duty  of  driving  him  out  in  a 
peculiar  springless  carriage,  which  was  arranged  for 
the  purpose  of  giving  him  exercise. 


404  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

He  neglected  for  these  cares  those  of  his  commer- 
cial station  down  town.  His  father  knew  of  it,  and, 
when  his  feeble  means  of  communication  with  the 
outer  world  had  so  far  advanced,  protested  against  it. 
His  ambition  was  not  yet  quenched,  moribund  as  he 
lay.  It  was  a  source  of  grief  to  him  that  his  elder 
son  and  heir  should  be  recreant,  even  though  employ- 
ing his  time  in  such  a  service. 

The  younger  son,  Rodman,  Jr.,  on  the  contrary, 
took  advantage  of  the  state  of  things  to  leave  his  col- 
lege and  start  for  the  West,  on  a  trip  chiefly  con- 
nected with  match  games  of  base-ball. 

Ill  news  travels  far  as  well  as  fast.  The  attack 
upon  Rodman  Harvey  went  out,  like  all  metropolitan 
news  of  moment,  into  the  country.  It  came  to  Bain- 
bridge  in  a  chance  copy  of  a  Chicago  journal,  to 
which  the  district  where  he  found  himself  was  trib- 
utary. The  story  lost  nothing  by  distance,  and  was 
made  appetizing  by  dashing  alliterative  head-lines. 

"  Knickerbocker  Knaveries.  Another  New  York 
Nabob  Shown  Up,"  he  read. 

His  heart  safik  with  apprehension ;  but  it  was  for 
Ottilie,  not  himself.  He  ran  to  the  nearest  telegraph 
office,  and  sent  a  message. 

Had  Ottilie  been  called  upon  to  act  as  a  nurse  in 
the  first  few  days  she  would  have  proved  of  but  slight 
use.  She  was  too  full  of  tremors  and  distractions. 
She  had  a  certain  awe  of  the  poor  atrophied  figure 
that  lay  before  her.  By  degrees,  however,  intelli- 
gence revived  in  it.  Its  eyes  could  be  seen  to  follow 
persons  wistfully  around  the  room.  Her  awe  was 
succeeded  by  a  profound  pity. 

One  day,  after  somewhat  more  than  a  week  had 


"THE  TOILS  ARE  LAID  AND  THE  STAKES  ARE  SET."    405 

passed,  and  she  sat  alone  by  the  bedside  of  her  uncle, 
the  dead-lock  upon  his  faculty  of  speech  was  removed, 
though  in  other  respects  he  was  little  less  inert  than 
before.  His  mind  went  at  once  to  his  interrupted 
defense  on  the  day  of  his  overthrow.  Ottilie  would 
have  gone  for  some  others,  but  he  prevented  it.  He 
directed  her  to  bring  pencil  and  paper,  and  note 
down  what  he  said.  He  apparently  felt  that  his 
joresent  capacity  might  be  of  but  short  duration,  as 
the  event  proved.  His  newly-recovered  voice  died 
away  presently  to  a  faint  articulation,  in  which  con- 
dition it  permanently  remained. 

Selkirk  came  in  to  her  aid  presently.  They  went 
with  the  statement,  when  complete,  to  Judge  Chip- 
pendale, Hastings,  Stoneglass,  and  others. 

The  alleged  forged  acceptance  in  the  hands  of 
Ambrose  Hackley  was  carefully  examined,  other 
testimony  taken,  and  General  Burlington  communi- 
cated with  in  the  West  Indies.  A  cheery  reply  was 
received  from  him.  Though  rival  and  political  op- 
ponent of  Rodman  Harvey,  he  professed  himself  a 
man  of  honor,  above  distorting  an  equivocal  situation 
to  the  injury  of  even  an  enemy. 

A  committee  of  the  Civic  Reform  Association  was 
called,  and  a  report  prepared,  which  soon  put  an  en- 
tirely new  aspect  upon  the  affair,  both  before  the 
association  and  the  public. 

Nothing  of  all  this  had  yet  taken  place,  however, 
and  Ottilie  was  still  sitting  in  the  deepest  shadow 
and  dejection  of  the  calamity,  when  a  telegram  from 
Bainbridge  was  received  from  the  far  West,  couched 
in  these  terms  :  — 

"  Have  read  accounts.  Is  that  all  ?  I  love  you. 
Have  succeeded  beyond  expectations  here.  Start  to- 
morrow by  through  express." 


406  THE  HOUSE   OF   A  MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

Was  that  all  ?  He  presumed  to  make  light  of  the 
disgrace.  He  loved  her  still  ?  What  a  person  !  He 
must  be  lost  to  all  moral  considerations,  to  all  respect 
for  public  decency,  to  treat  it  so.  She  knew  what 
she  had  to  do,  all  the  same.  But  he  was  coming 
back.  How  noble,  how  generous,  he  was  !  It  would 
be  her  comfort  to  think  of  it  in  all  after  time. 


XXV. 

OTTELIE  HARVEY  CLEARS  UP  A  PAINFUL  SITUATION. 

When  Russell  Bainbridge  returned  to  town,  he 
hastened  with  all  dispatch  to  the  Harvey  mansion. 

A  curious  sight  met  his  gaze  at  the  threshold.  An 
old,  old  man,  in  a  dressing-robe,  was  being  supported 
in  a  slow  promenade  up  and  down  the  hall.  A  stal- 
wart attendant  upheld  him  by  each  shoulder.  At  one 
side  walked  Ottilie,  holding  a  book  and  bunch  of 
keys  ;  at  the  other,  her  cousin  Selkirk. 

To  this  complexion  had  Rodman  Harvey  come  at 
last.  He  was  borne  along  like  some  strange  fetich. 
His  feet  swung  in  and  out  mechanically  and  dropped 
upon  the  pavement  with  a  dull  thud.  There  was  no 
virtue  in  his  splendid  surroundings,  no  magic  in  the 
memory  of  the  sway  that  had  once  been  his,  to  break 
the  benumbing  spell  upon  his  faculties.  His  eyes 
alone  lived,  jewels  embedded  in  a  strange,  unwieldy 
setting. 

He  recognized  Bainbridge,  and  a  faint  mumbling 
escaped  his  lips,  Ottilie  bent  to  catch  it,  with  the  ear 
of  a  ready  sympathy.  Bainbridge  remarked  with  a 
pang  how  strongly  she  showed  the  trace  of  her  anx- 
ieties. 

"  Uncle  Rodman  says,  '  How  do  you  do  ? '  ! '  she 
said.     "  lie  will  shake  hands  witli  you." 

There  was  something  very  sweet  in  this.  It  was 
as  if  she  were  interpreting  the  lisping  accents  of  a 
child. 


408  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

Bainbridge,  with  a  certain  awe,  took  three  palsied 
fingers  of  his  patron's  hand  in  his  own.  Tears  started 
from  the  eyes  of  the  merchant  prince,  and  dribbled 
down  his  cheeks.  They  were  sedulously  wiped  away 
by  his  attendants. 

«  Why  was  he  so  affected  at  sight  of  me  ?  "  asked 
Bainbridge,  when  this  interview  had  ended,  and  he 
wTas  enabled  to  withdraw  with  Ottilie  into  one  of  the 
reception-rooms  adjoining. 

"  I  do  not  think  he  was  unusually  so,"  she  ex- 
plained. "  He  remembers  you,  and  that  alone  suf- 
fices to  excite  him.  He  has  no  control  whatever  over 
his  faculties." 

Bainbridge  listened  with  a  sympathetic  air,  for  a 
time,  to  further  details  of  the  sad  case.  A  pause 
ensued. 

"  Well,  I  have  returned,  and  you  know  very  well 
what  for,"  he  broke  out,  when  he  could  no  longer  re- 
frain. "  The}7  have  fair  railroads,  and  travel  toler- 
ably fast,  in  that  model  West  of  yours,  as  you  say  ; 
but  to  me  they  seemed  only  to  crawl.  I  thought  I 
should  never  get  here.  You  knew  that  I  would  come 
back  and  renew  my  application  at  the  earliest  possi- 
ble opportunity,  did  you  not  ?  You  understood  per- 
fectly well  that  this  sensational  incident  could  make 
no  difference  to  me  ?  " 

"  No,"  returned  Ottilie.  "  I  thought  it  would.  I 
was  not  sure  that  you  would  come  back."  She  di- 
rected at  him  an  anxious,  inquiring  gaze. 

He  took  both  her  hands  in  his,  and  swung  them  a 
little  back  and  forth  affectionately  as  he  addressed 
her.  "  Never  let  me  hear  you  talk  in  that  way 
again  !  "  lie  said.  "  Poor  old  Ottilie  !  You  have 
been  so  troubled  with  all  this.     We  must  put  an  end 


OTTILIE  HARVEY  CLEARS  XT  A  PAINFUL  SITUATION.    403 

to  it.  I  have  come  back  to  marry  you,  and'  at  once.  I 
trust  there  are  no  new  bugbears  in  the  way.  since  you 
see  you  cannot  frighten  me  with  the  old.  Come  ;  I 
am  going  to  have  your  aunt's  consent,  if  that  be  a 
necessary  preliminary."' 

t;  Stay,"  said  Ottilie,  detaining  him,  as  he  made  a 
feint  of  going  on  the  instant.  "  And  you  really 
mean  to  say  that  you  are  not  afraid  of  taking  a  share 
of  this  stigma,  with  which  the  town,  perhaps  the 
whole  country,  is  ringing  ?  " 

There  was  something  benign  and  at  the  same  time 
mysterious  in  the  smile  with  which  her  words  were 
accompanied. 

M  Xo,  I  do  not  seem  to  mind  it.  You  used  to 
charge  me  with  moral  insensibility.  Perhaps  this  is 
a  case  of  it.  Moral  insensibility  may  have  its  advan- 
tages, after  all." 

"  But  Mr.  Kingbolt  has  thought  it  so  serious  that 
he  has  broken  off  the  match  with  Angelica." 

"I  always  had  my  opinion  of  that  fellow,"  receiv- 
ing this  news  with  a  manifestation  of  disgust.  "  It 
is  hard  on  Angelica,"  reflectively  ;  "  but,  between 
ourselves,  there  are  persons  wrho  require  a  certain  ad- 
mixture of  adversity  to  bring  them  to  a  proper  con- 
sideration for  the  rest  of  the  world,  and  she  is  pos- 
sibly one  of  them.  Still,  even  adversity  does  not 
always  do  it." 

"  Hush  !  "  exclaimed  Ottilie.  "  She  is  extremely 
unhappy.  I  am  sure  we  ought  to  have  nothing  but 
sympathy  for  her." 

"  Well,  sympathy  let  it  be,  then.  But  as  to  the 
scandal  itself,  it  is  written  that  the  sins  of  the  fathers 
shall  be  visited  upon  the  children,  but  I  have  nev:-r 
heard  that  those  of  the  uncles   were,      That  would  be 


410  THE   HOUSE    OF   A    MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

a  little  too  much.  If  the}7  were,  though,  I  will  say 
that  I  should  not  mind  shouldering  some  trifling  re- 
sponsibility of  that  kind.  How  am  I  to  show  that  I 
love  you?     There  are  no  ordeals,  no  tests." 

Ottilie  had  never  known  him  more  magnanimous, 
confident,  tender,  irresistible. 

"  Well,"  she  said,  all  at  once  changing  her  manner 
to  one  of  ravishing  brightness,  "  since  you  are  quite 
sure  that  you  do  not  care,  since  you  are  pleased  to 
make  light  of  this  odium  upon  our  family  name,  it 
does  not  exist.     It  is  all  a  mistake." 

"  A  mistake?" 

"  Yes.  Had  my  uncle  not  been  so  suddenly  stricken 
he  would  have  explained  it  away  on  the  spot.  The 
evidence  is  in  the  hands  of  Judge  Chippendale,  a 
committee  of  the  Civic  Reform  Association,  and 
others,  and  will  shortly  be  issued.  It  is  a  complete 
vindication.  Oh,  you  cannot  know  what  a  weight  it 
lias  raised  from  my  life  !  A  dread,  nourished  by  cir- 
cumstances recurring  with  a  kind  of  fatality,  had 
grown  upon  me  for  months.  I  used  to  dream  the 
most  terrible  things.  I  saw  my  uncle  among  those 
convicts  we  looked  down  upon  that  day  from  the 
Terrace.  I  awoke  and  found  myself  crying,  and  beg- 
ging them  to  let  him  go." 

'.*  Poor  child,  poor  child  !  We  ought  to  have  talked 
it  over  together.  I  feared  to  give  your  suspicions  ex- 
aggerated importance  by  appearing  to  understand 
them." 

Bainbridge  had  the  details  of  the  attack  upon  the 
merchant  prince  well  in  mind.  lie  had  pored  over 
them  in  his  newspaper,  seeking  flaws  from  the  legal 
point  of  view,  and  was  prepared  to  appreciate  the 
points  of  the  defense. 


OTTILIE  HARVEY  CLEARS  UP  A  PAINFUL  SITUATION.    41 1 

"  My  uncle  Rodman,"  said  Ottilie  in  substance, 
"  has  come  to  look  differently  from  before  at  many 
things  in  his  past  life.  He  has  confessed  to  me  that 
he  fears  that  he  was  at  one  time  too  inconsiderate  of 
all  but  pecuniary  advantage.  He  adjusted  himself  to 
the  world  as  he  found  it,  giving  no  thought  to  reform 
it  or  resist  objectionable  tendencies.  As  to  the  senti- 
ment of  patrotism,  he  says  that  it  had  never  been 
aroused  to  prominence  in  his  breast  by  any  threat  of 
danger  to  the  country.  His  attitude  towards  slavery, 
now  so  heinous,  was  that  of  what  was  called  the  '  con- 
servative '  element  of  the  time.  He  says  that,  however 
it  may  appear  in  the  letters,  which  have  possibly 
been  added  to,  he  did  not  really  foresee  the  bloody 
conflict  that  arose.  He  thinks  that  he  could  never 
have  been  drawn  to  actually  side  against  the  govern- 
ment." 

"  It  is  hardly  what  one  would  call  a  striking  de- 
fense, from  the  modern  point  of  view,"  said  Bain- 
bridge.  "Still,  he  amply  compensated  for  any  tem- 
porizing conduct  at  first  by  his  vigor  later  on." 

"  Fortunately,  the  rest  is  more  satisfactory.  Let 
me  show  you,  as  it  has  been  explained  to  me,  the 
baseless  character  of  the  allegation  of  forgery.  Uncle 
Rodman  was  on  the  brink  of  ruin  that  day,  as  they 
claim,  lie  had  been  refused  an  extension  at  the  Ant- 
arctic  Bank,  and  sat  in  his  office,  expecting  failure, 
and  unable  to  raise  hand  or  foot  to  avert  it.  In  bis 
well-nigh  distracted  condition,  he  scribbled  on  paper 
before  him  imaginary  notes,  bills,  and  acceptances. 
4  Thus  and  so  much,' he  said  to  himself,  "such  and 
such  a  name  or  names  as  indorsers,  would  save  me.' 
They  must  have  been  like  those  visions  of  water  con- 
jured up  by  travelers  perishing  of  thirst.     There  was 


412  THE   HOUSE    OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

no  imitation  of  signatures,  no  other  handwriting  than 
his  own,  —  no  regular  aspect  to  the  papers  at  all. 
Some  of  them  were  but  half  written,  others  covered 
with  scrawled  flourishes  or  multiplications.  But 
some  of  these  got  into  the  bank  with  commercial  pa- 
per that  was  really  genuine." 

"  I  begin  to  see,"  said  Bainbridge.  "  A  danger- 
ous error,  but,  I  imagine,  a  very  infrequent  one." 

"  Dangerous  indeed,"  Ottilie  went  on.  "  One 
would  have  thought  that  they  would  have  been  at 
once  thrown  out,  as  showing  on  their  face  what  they 
were  ;  but  it  was  not  so.  Now  it  so  happened  that 
this  day  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  in  a  peculiar 
time.  Under  the  influence  of  the  imminent  prospect 
of  war,  the  prices  of  commodities  were  advancing  al- 
most from  moment  to  moment.  Small  dealers  every- 
where were  desirous  to  buy,  to  realize  the  further  rise 
themselves.  Orders  by  mail,  by  telegraph,  and  per- 
sonal visit  poured  in  at  an  unheard-of  rate.  The  act- 
ual sales  and  money  receipts  at  my  uncle's  store  on 
that  day  have  never  been  equaled,  before  or  since. 
He  was  aroused  from  his  lethargy  to  new  hopes. 
With  the  almost  miraculous  resources  thus  obtained, 
and  new  exertions  which  he  was  encouraged  to  make 
outside,  before  the  close  of  banking  hours  his  credit 
was  saved.  The  greater  part  of  the  sum  demanded 
was  paid  in.  Little  is  done  calmly  on  such  occasions, 
as  you  may  imagine.  Messengers,  buyers,  and  sales- 
men were  rushing  wildly  in  and  out,  demanding  the 
proprietor's  attention.  How  it  happened  that  the 
pretended  acceptances  became  mingled  with  the  oth- 
ers, and  went  into  the  hank  for  deposit  and  collection, 
cannot  now  be  explained,  but  by  some  fatality  tliey 
did.     Two  of  them  bore  the  name  of  the  great  manu- 


OTTILIE  HARVEY  CLEARS  UP  A  PAINFUL  SITUATION.   413 

facturer,  Colonel  Kingbolt  of  Kingboltsville,  then  al- 
most a  household  word.  This  was  the  germ  of  the 
calamitous  consequences  we  have  witnessed." 

"  But  why  —  but  how?"  Bainbridge  began  to  ask. 

"  That  is  what  I  am  going  on  to  tell.  The  presi- 
dent sent  for  uncle  Rodman.  As  everything  is  im- 
portant in  a  bank,  it  seems  that  he  thought  it  his 
duty  to  do  so.  They  had  a  little  chat  together,  and 
all  was  amicably  explained.  My  uncle  insisted  on 
sending  the  bank  messenger  to  bring  the  waste-bas- 
ket from  his  store,  to  show  just  how  the  scribbling 
had  been  clone,  and  how  insignificant  it  was.  Thus 
there  was  no  appearance  of  forgery,  and  furthermore, 
as  my  uncle's  bank  account  did  not  need  the  amount, 
no  motive  for  it.  The  petty  circumstance  would 
never  have  been  heard  of  again  except  for  two  rea- 
sons. An  over-zealous  employee,  new  in  the  service 
of  the  bank,  had  telegraphed  to  Kingboltsville.  Sec- 
ondly, when  the  pretended  acceptances  should  have 
been  returned  to  uncle  Rodman,  one  was  missing.  It 
was  not  seen  again  until  it  turned  up  in  the  bands  of 
his  enemy  Ilackley,  who  had  retained  it  all  these 
years  for  his  own  purposes.  It  was  plainly  seen  by 
Judge  Chippendale  and  the  committee,  when  they  in- 
spected it  the  other  day,  and  compared  it  with  Col- 
onel Kingbolt's  writing,  that  it  was  uncle  Rodman's, 
without  disguise,  and  there  was  but  the  faintest  re- 
semblance between  the  two.  The  committee  had 
considerable  difficulty  in  getting  it  from  Mr.  Hackley, 
who  knew  well  enough  the  weakness  of  his  cause,  but 
dared  not  refuse." 

"  Artfully  planned  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Sprowle  On- 
derdonk,"  commented  the  listener,  when  the  story 
was  finished.     "  I  would  not  have  given  him  credit 


414  THE  HOUSE   OF  A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

for  ability  to  make  so  much  of  so  little.  And  boldly 
planned  as  well.  They  could  not  have  expected  to 
do  any  permanent  harm  with  it.  It  must  have  been 
meant  only  as  a  bombshell  in  the  enemy's  camp  on 
the  eve  of  the  marriage  of  his  daughter  and  his  prob- 
able appointment  to  the  cabinet.  They  were  favored 
by  the  state  of  his  health.  The  Sprowles  have  well 
repaid  the  affront  offered  them." 

"  Upon  the  conclusion  of  that  day  of  exciting  ex- 
periences my  uncle  fell  ill  of  a  fever,"  pursued  Ottilie. 
"  Thus  you  see  that  it  is  an  occasion  marked  in  his 
memory  in  numerous  ways.  He  scored  up  all  his  suf- 
ferings to  the  account  of  the  South." 

She  paused,  then  resumed,  in  a  lingering  way.  "  I 
do  not  know  whether  I  ought  to  tell  you  this,"  she 
said,  "  but  —  I  tell  you  everything,  and  it  will  go  no 
farther.  Uncle  Rodman  admits  to  me  that  while  he 
sat  helpless  at  his  desk  he  had  a  terrible  temptation. 
Had  other  means  not  intervened,  he  is  not  sure  but 
he  might  have  done  what  he  has  been  charged  with. 
He  says, '  They  might  have  made  me  a  forger. ' : 

"  '  There,  but  for  the  grace  of  God,  goes  John 
Knox  reformer,'  "  broke  in  Bainbridge.  "  You  know 
the  quotation.  We  all  know  something  of  the  feel- 
ing." 

"  He  could  not  bear  the  thought  of  going  down  to 
ruin  from  such  a  cause,"  said  the  young  girl.  "  It 
was  a  certain  dallying  with  this  temptation,  that  ac- 
counted for  his  agitation,  in  having  suspicion  cast 
upon  him  shortly  after.  He  half  felt  it  to  be  just, 
though  he  had  not  gone  to  the  actual  point  of  yield- 
ing, nor  committed  any  tangible  crime.  It  was  this 
that  added  the  keenest  edge  to  his  hatred  of  \us 
Southern  debtors.     Their  betrayal  had  driven  one  of 


OTTILIE  HARVEY  CLEARS  UP  A  PAINFUL  SITUATION.    415 

his  exceptionally  strict  ideas  of  commercial  upright- 
ness to  such  a  pass.  Had  he  succumbed,  the  fault  of 
this,  with  the  rest,  would  have  been  at  their  door.  It 
was  this,  too,  it  seems,  that  accounted  for  his  inter- 
est in  the  cases  of  which  I  have  told  you,  which  I,  in 
my  too  ready  apprehensiveness,  took  for  remorse  and 
guilt"   _ 

"He  is  not  bad,  then,"  said  Bainbridge. 

"  I  cannot  think  he  is  bad.  He  has  been  over-am- 
bitious, rigid,  in  certain  peculiar  ideas,  and  warped  by 
a  strong  sense  of  injury.  I  am  sure  there  must  be 
many  worse." 

"  Well,  since  it  is  out  of  the  way,  and  there  is  no 
need  of  our  standing  by  it,  it  did  have  a  somewhat 
ugly  look.  Let  us  rejoice  as  at  a  happy  deliverance, 
for  your  sake,  dear  Ottilie,  since  it  made  you  uneasy, 
not  mine  !  I  would  have  gladly  put  up  with  fifty 
times  as  much. —  But  I  cannot  dwell  on  gloomy  sub- 
jects to-day.  Let  me  tell  you  of  my  success  in  Colo- 
rado. My  friend,  the  absconding  debtor,  came  down 
at  once  on  seeing  me,  without  putting  me  to  the 
trouble  of  legal  proceedings.  He  was  able  to  pay, 
and  did  so,  with  what  excuses  for  his  past  conduct  he 
could  trump  up.  I,  overjoyed  to  get  my  money,  was 
not  too  particular  in  my  scrutiny  of  them.  The  sum 
is  a  modest  one,  but  it  will  do  to  begin  life  upon. 
Come,  now,  dear  child  !  come,  dear  little  mistress  of 
all  the  arts  and  sciences,  a  date  for  the  wedding,  —  a 
very  speedy  one  !  " 

How  sweet  were  his  epithets  of  affection  !  Such 
things  are  said  a  thousand  times,  but  ah,  those  earli- 
est tin 

"  We  need  no  long  engagement,"  he  went  on. 
"  Our  whole  acquaintance  has  been  a  kind  of  engage- 


416  THE   HOUSE    OF    A    MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

ment.  It  seems  to  me  that  we  know  each  other  very 
well." 

"  My  family  will  be  very  much  surprised." 

"  Families  always  are,  you  know,  but  they  get  used 
to  it." 

"  There  are  so  many  things  to  be  done." 

"  Don't  do  them  !     Let  them  wait !  " 

"  Well,  in  a  year."     This  by  way  of  trying  him. 

Bainbridge  opened  his  eyes  in  amazement.  "  I  like 
that !  "  he  said.     "  A  fortnight !  " 

"  Oh,  oh  !  Three  months,  at  least,"  insisted  Otti- 
lie,  amazed  in  her  turn.  This  limit,  however,  after 
sufficient  pleading,  was  cut  down  to  six  weeks. 

k'  My  uncle  will  perhaps  object,"  she  urged  later. 
"  He  may  consider  me   necessary  as  a  nurse." 

"  That  is  one  of  the  very  reasons.  You  are  fagged 
out.  You  will  break  down.  You  can  come  back  if 
you  are  really  wanted.  And,  another  thing,  I  am  not 
quite  sure  that  I  feel  sufficient  confidence  in  my  own 
surpassing  merits  to  leave  you  too  long.  It  has  been 
the  greatest  wonder  to  me  that  some  of  the  young 
millionaires  have  not  snapped  you  up  before  now. 
They  have  eyes  in  their  heads,  I  suppose,  and  I  am 
sure  they  have  tried.  There  is  no  telling,  even  now, 
whether  they  may  not  make  their  inducements  too 
strong.     Human  nature  is  weak." 

"  You  are  trusting,  I  must  say.  No,  they  have  not 
snapped  me  up.  They  have  not  tried, — except  of 
course  that  ridiculous  Stillsby,  and — my  cousin  Sel- 
kirk." 

"  Your  cousin  Selkirk  ?  "  cried  Bainbridge  in  con- 
sternation. 

"  Oh,  yes  ;  but  I  heroically  refused.  I  tell  nobody 
else  ;  only  you.    I  shall  have  no  secrets  left  presently. 


OTTILIE  HARVEY  CLEARS  UP  A  PAINFUL  SITUATION.    417 

It  was  only  the  other  day.  It  came  about,  perhaps, 
through  the  intimacy  into  which  we  have  been 
thrown  by  our  care  for  his  father.  He  had  never  made 
love  to  me  before,  unless  it  be  making  love  to  ex- 
plain his  collections,  and  take  me  out  to  drive  once  or 
twice.  He  declared,  in  his  backward,  hesitating  way, 
that  I  was  one  of  the  reasons  why  he  had  not  married. 
He  complimented  me  by  saying  that  I  was  different 
from  other  girls,  —  though  how  I  am  so  different,  I 
really  don't  know.  He  would  esteem  my  advice  and 
help  in  the  management  of  his  property.  I  told  him 
that  I  could  not  think  of  marrying  so  near  a  relative 
on  any  account ;  nor  would  I,  though  some  do,  you 
know.  That  alone  was  a  sufficient  excuse.  We  had 
a  talk  of  considerable  length.  Selkirk  is  amiable  and 
easily  influenced,  and  yet  not  without  strength  in  a 
certain  way.  I  left  him  well  disposed  towards  me. 
I  am  sure  that  it  was  only  a  fleeting  fancy,  and  he 
will  think  no  more  of  it." 

Bainbrid^e  was  lost  in  admiration  at  this,  as  if  she 
had  made  an  extraordinary  sacrifice  for  him.  He 
drew  her  towards  him. 

"  But  you  want  somebody  whom  you  can  put 
upon  a  pedestal,"  she  demurred.  -'No  mere  ordi- 
nary woman  will  do." 

"  I  have  put  you  there  long  since,  darling  Ottilie," 
lie  said,  rendered  more  ardent  by  her  tantalizing  ways. 
lt  You  see  before  you  the  most  abject  of  idolaters." 

"  Take  care  !  Perhaps  it  is  better  not  to  touch 
idols;  the  gilding  may  rub  off."  But  then  she  re- 
signed herself  deliciously,  with, — 

"  After  all,  one  feels  rather  topply  on  a  pedestal, 
at  first." 

"I  wish  I  could  make  you  understand  how  utterly 
27 


US  THE   HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT   PRINCE. 

without  personal  needs  I  have  become,"  said  Bain- 
bridge,  "  how  good  I  want  to  be  to  you.  I  wish  there 
were  some  way  of  letting  you  alone  enjoy  all  that  I 
have,  or  ever  could  have,  while  I  but  looked  on  and 
saw  it  done.     For  me  the  one  thing  important  is  "  — 

"  '  Whether  she  will  stick  to  a  fellow;  whether  she 
will  pull  through  thick  and  thin  with  him,'  "  she  in- 
terrupted, mimicking  his  sage  talk  of  the  past  sum- 
mer, almost  as  a  resource  for  net  weeping  with  hap- 
piness.    "  Well,  she  has,  and  she  will." 

She  laid  a  soft,  round  cheek  against  his. 

It  was  a  pleasant  sight  to  see,  as  it  was  often  seen 
now,  the  fair  young  girl  seated  by  the  chair  of  the 
invalid.  It  was  a  pleasant  sound  to  hear,  her  fresh 
young  voice,  raised  in  contrast  with  his  mumbled 
tones.  She  amused,  as  it  were,  a  child,  but  such  an 
old,  heart- weary,  tragical  child  !  Bainbridge  could 
not  conceal  his  enthusiasm  over  her.  Mrs.  Rodman 
Harvey  looked  at  him  with  interest,  contrasting  him 
with  Kingbolt,  and  said  to  Ottilie,  — 

"  Here,  child,  let  me  look  at  you !  Have  we  indeed 
had  such  a  paragon  in  the  house  all  this  time,  with- 
out knowing  it  ?  " 

Bainbridge  paid  some  calls  with  Ottilie,  among 
other  places,  at  the  Hastings'.  The  visit  so  strongly 
recalled  the  last  evening  they  had  spent  there,  that 
lie  was  scarcely  lucid  in  talk  with  Mrs.  Hastings. 
His  thoughts  wandered  continually  to  his  betrothed. 
She  sat  across  the  room  in  a  fresh,  simple  toilette 
that  became  her  admirably.  She  tapped  her  parasol 
against  her  small  boot  as  she  converse* I. 

tw  She  is  mine,"  he  said  to  himself,  in  a  kind  of  won- 
der.    "  She  is  mine." 


OTTILIE  HARVEY  CLEARS  UP  A  PAINFUL  SITUATION.    419 

The  roar  of  the  streets  now  boomed  for  him,  as  he 
came  up  town,  a  triumphal  march.  The  sky,  from 
liis  office  window,  seemed  of  a  more  delicate  azure, 
the  sunshine  of  a  finer  quality,  in  the  part  of  the 
town  where  Ottilie  was,  as  a  city  is  indicated  at  night 
by  the  glow  in  the  heavens  above  it. 

He  chanced  to  fall  in  with  Mrs.  Elphinstone  Swan, 
who  already  began  to  wear  her  widow's  weeds  with 
a  certain  worldly  air. 

"  Are  you  never  going  to  speak  to  me  again  ?  " 
this  lady  asked.  "  I  should  still  value  your  friend- 
ship.    You  did  not  understand  me." 

She  made  other  efforts  to  draw  him  back  to  her, 
but  without  avail.  Whether  prompted  by  a  late  re- 
pentance or  a  new  inspiration  of  coquetry,  they 
hardly  caused  him  even  a  bitter  reflection.  To  him 
she  was  utterly  dead. 

It  was  again  spring,  and  the  white  blossoms  of  the 
magnolia  shrubs  were  in  bloom.  It  might  have  been 
remarked  that  that  which  had  been  planted  before 
the  corner-stone  of  the  Harvey  mansion,  so  singularly 
marked  with  the  fossil  print,  had  now  a  much  less 
mission  to  perform.  The  bird-track,  if  bird-track  it 
were,  had  disappeared,  little  by  little,  through  the 
continued  flaking  of  the  stone,  till  it  was  well-nigh 
obliterated.  The  superstitious  might  now  have  con- 
sidered that  the  omen  also  had  exhausted  itself,  and 
would  he  of  no  further  avail. 

The  mind  in  the  helpless  frame  of  the  merchant 
prince  still  gave  evidence  of  vigor ;  but  in  the  pale 
white  light  that  shines  from  a  near  approach  to  an- 
other world  he  saw  many  subjects  as  he  had  never 
Been  them  before.  He  remitted  debts,  among  others 
that  which   had   so   long   hung  over  the  Hasbrouck 


420  THE  HOUSE   OF   A   MERCHANT    PRINCE. 

family.  Ottilie  bad  the  pleasure  of  being  the  first  to 
convey  to  her  old  friends  the  delightful  intelligence. 

Miss  Emily  Rawson  was  married  presently  to  the 
Rev.  Edwin  Swan.  She  turned  her  superfluous  en- 
ergy into  channels  of  benevolence,  and  all  the  good 
works  in  the  parish  had  reason  to  be  glad  of  her  ac- 
quisition. At  about  the  same  time  came  news  of  the 
great  frauds  in  the  Eureka  Tool  Works  of  King* 
boltsville.  Judge  Bryan,  the  principal  trustee,  was 
a  defaulter,  and  young  Kingbolt  was  hurrying  home 
from  Europe  in  alarm.  People  said  unsympatheti- 
cally,  that  if  the  heir  had  ever  taken  the  pains  to 
look  after  his  own  affairs  this  could  never  have  hap- 
pened. 

The  ambitions  of  the  merchant  prince  were  as  keen 
as  ever,  but  he  had  been  disappointed  in  the  traits  of 
his  children.  He  was  called  away  presently  to  his 
longr  rest.  The  notable  bodies  of  various  sorts  with 
which  he  had  been  connected  passed  resolutions  of 
respect  to  his  memoiy,  and  transmitted  copies  to  the 
bereaved  family,  and  a  stately  column  of  polished 
granite  arose  above  his  remains  at  Greenwood. 

When  at  length  his  last  will  and  testament  was 
opened  it  was  found  to  have  devised  a  large  share  of 
his  property  to  charities  and  institutions  of  learning. 

It  also  devised,  —  "  in  affectionate  remembrance 
of  her  devotion,  and  many  amiable  qualities,"  —  a 
handsome  fortune  to  his  "  beloved  niece  Ottilie  Har- 
vey, wife  of  Russell  Bainbridge." 

The  opportunities  of  her  new  position  scintillated 
before  the  vision  of  this  charming  young  legatee  like 
a  shower  of  sparks. 


